Considering why—or why not—Christian retailers should carry Spanish products

With the Spanish-language market growing—as evidenced by the Expolit show in Miami this month—many Christian retailers have tried carrying Spanish products in their stores. We asked several whether or not they carried Spanish products and, more importantly, why or why not. Here is what they had to say:

“We have a very modest Spanish language section. We have about 8 linear feet (two shelves on a 4-foot fixture) of Spanish Bibles, and a 16 linear foot section of books, music and other Spanish materials. Our store is not near the Spanish-speaking neighborhoods, so we are all the more a destination site for those customers. We also do not have anyone who is fluent in the language—I know a few words and phrases, but that’s about all. Those two reasons are primary as to why we do not carry more, but we do serve some customers periodically who can navigate bilingually.”

—John DeSaulniers Jr.
owner, Wellspring Christian Resources
Des Moines, Iowa

“Yes, we do sell Spanish product, books, Bibles and music. We do not have an extensive range, but carry the key products and have a detailed binder of all current Spanish product available that we will special-order for the customer. We see Spanish as a growing subdepartment for us.”

—Mark Hutchinson
president, Blessings
Chilliwack, British Columbia, Canada

“The Hispanic community has increased in the Sagemont area. To support this demographic, Sagemont Church has created a Spanish ministry that holds dedicated services and Bible studies. I have worked closely with this ministry to gauge which resources would be useful. The ‘Español’ section consists of mostly Bibles with a small selection of best-selling titles, tracts and music CDs.”

—Lynda LeCompte
bookstore and café director
Sagemont Church, Houston, Texas

“We carry more books and Bibles in Spanish, but still it takes up less than a 4-foot section. We carry some music, gifts and Bible tabs. We do have a Spanish clientele and Spanish churches in our area. We would special-order CDs and DVDs and, of course, anything else that we didn’t happen to have in stock in Spanish.”

—Teresia Osborne
manager, The Salt Cellar
Lawton, Okla.

“Over the past five years, Blessings has offered Spanish gift items, music, books, bookmarks and greeting cards. However, we have now narrowed our Spanish product selections to just a few Bibles and books due to lack of demand.” 

—Bambi Rucker
owner, Blessings Christian Gift Store Seguin, Texas

“Yes, we do sell Spanish-language products in our store. We do because we do have some customers who come in looking for it. I would love to sell more, but don’t quite know how to get the word out to the Hispanic community that we have products that may be beneficial to them. I may be able to reach a few, but at large, I’m not sure.”

—Candace Tucker
general manager
CLC Bookcenter-Center City Philadelphia

“We do sell some titles in Spanish at our store, mostly Bibles and a few music releases. We have a Spanish community in our area and we have brought in these 

items in response to that. At different times throughout the year, we do have requests for small evangelism items (booklets, etc.) from local churches going on mission trips in Spanish-speaking countries. It’s been hard to know what items to carry on a regular basis, but the Bibles and music items have sold fairly consistently. We have brought in some children’s Bible story DVDs in Spanish as well. They have also sold consistently.” 

—Donna McCollough
manager, Dove Christian Supply, Enterprise, Ala.

“We have little to no call for Spanish products. A number of years ago we tried, but ended up discounting the product.”

—Paul Kuntz
manager, Arrowhead Parable Christian Store, Johnson City, N.Y.

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