A Christian remainder house based in the Midwest—which has a permanent showroom in New York City—plans to construct a multimillion-dollar distribution center to meet growing demand.

Jerry Bloom, president of Treasures Media—comprised of a 500-square-foot store, online business and wholesale arm—said he expects to break ground on the new facility in Racine, Wis., in March 2010. To be located in an industrial park, the 80,000-square-foot distribution center—expected to cost $3 million to $4 million—should be constructed by October 2010, he said.

A major era in the Christian products industry has ended with the sudden departure of the longtime head of the Christian retailers organization, Bill Anderson.

His resignation as president and CEO of CBA after almost a quarter-century caught many by surprise when it was announced by the Colorado Springs, Colo.-based group Oct. 30. No reason was given for his leaving.

A regional chain in the Pacific Northwest, Christian Supply Centers (CSC) recently downsized, closing eight of its stores in September. The chain, owned by Oregon industrialist Robert Pamplin, still operates five stores in Oregon, Washington and Idaho.

Jim Shelley, manager of the chain's store in Spokane, Wash., replaced former General Manager Gunnar Simonsen, who departed the company prior to the store closings. Shelley, who was not available to comment, will lead CSC with increased focus on the five remaining stores in cites such as Beaverton, Ore.; Spokane, Wash.; and Cour d'Alene, Idaho.

Distributor's initiative offers Christian bookstores 'a way to keep up' with publishers' new titles

STL Distribution North America (STLD) is anticipating the results of its new program to help stores keep on top of new releases.

The first shipment in the distributor's SNAP initiative went out in September. So far, more than 30 stores across the country have signed up for the program, launched at the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) in July.

SNAP—standing for STL New Auto Placement—offers a 43% discount on 10 new titles selected by STLD from several publishers, and automatically ships two copies of each.

"We were thinking that some of the major publishers have increased their margins so much that some of the smaller stores aren't able to really do business with them anymore," said Rick Regenfuss, STLD vice president of sales and marketing. "We thought that perhaps there was a place for us, where stores might outsource that part of their ordering to us."

The monthly selection, made by STLD staff, includes large and small- to mid-size publishers. "We choose what we believe are going to be the top 10 releases for that specific month," Regenfuss said.

Enrollment for the program is for a minimum of six months for stores with current STLD accounts, and the books can be returned if retailers are uncomfortable with the content or doctrine.

Dennis Lovvorn, owner of New Covenant Christian Bookstore in Shelbyville, Tenn., who signed up for the program while at ICRS, told Christian Retailing that it was too early yet to judge SNAP.

Though he has been in business 15 years, he thought that having help in identifying strong new releases could be useful. "When you are wearing 73 different hats, sometimes it's hard to keep up with all the new releases as well as you would like," he said. "It's just a way to keep up with them."

Meanwhile, Editorial Unilit has launched an "As Seen on TV" campaign—geared to assist Christian bookstores in promoting the sale of new Spanish releases and reach customers "straight to the heart."

"Currently, Christian booksellers are facing two realities: the global economic crisis and the abundance of new releases produced each month," said Editorial Unilit Vice President for Sales and Marketing Luis Fernandez Jr. "Which book do we choose, and how do we promote it among so many new titles? Considering the needs of the Christian population, we firmly believe that 'As Seen on TV' is the solution."

More than 200 bookstores throughout Latin America and the United States are taking part in the campaign, which features audiovisual materials offering customers information about the latest releases, company officials said.