Retailers, suppliers and publishers adjust their presence at Christian product industry shows

The Christian product industry’s trade show calendar is being rewritten for 2009 because of the continuing economic slowdown. Organizers have postponed, scrapped and shortened planned events.

Meanwhile, several retailers, suppliers and publishers contacted by Christian Retailing have said they will skip or cut back their presence at trade shows.
“As far as 2009, I’m not going to any shows,” said Elaine Todd, owner of Living Branches in Winchester, Va. “Two years ago, I would have never dreamed (of that). But that’s what lack of revenue will do.”

Thomas Nelson scrapped plans in December to hold its second Open House reception for key Christian retail accounts, scheduled for April 13-15. The three-day event has been pushed back to 2010, when it will become a biennial happening.

“We are already beginning plans for the 2010 Open House and do not anticipate it being cancelled,” Thomas Nelson President and CEO Michael Hyatt said. “That being said, we will continue to monitor the economic climate to confirm that it will be a prudent investment of resources for our vendors and Nelson.”
The Nelson move came after CBA announced that it had cancelled plans for a West Coast location for its Industry Conference, scheduled for Feb. 4, because of lack of support, though the Jan. 14 one planned for Atlanta went ahead.

CBA had previously announced that it will shorten its annual summer show—long the centerpiece of the Christian products industry—from five to four days in a cost-cutting move as well as response to feedback from exhibitors. Marking its 60th anniversary in Denver, the trade association’s International Christian Retail Show (ICRS) will be held July 12-15, 2009.
Just like 2008, Hyatt said Nelson would not exhibit at either Book Expo America or ICRS.

“For Thomas Nelson, these shows provide very little return on a very significant investment,” he said.

Hyatt noted that Nelson will participate in the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association’s (ECPA) inaugural Christian Book Expo (CBE) in Dallas, March 20-22.
“CBE is not a trade show; it is a consumer show,” he said. “It was created with the intention of reaching customers, both old and new, with the inspirational message of Christian books, Bibles and other resources.”

ECPA President Mark Kuyper said CBE and ICRS “have completely different purposes and structure by design, so they are really non-competitive.”

“But for some publishers there will be a question of resources available to do both,” he said. “For those publishers, I’m sure they will choose which one to attend based on their unique strategies and goals. We hope both (events) will provide enough value to help our publishers and retailers be as successful as possible in the coming year.”

ECPA has projected “a very moderate attendance at CBE of 15,000 to 20,000,” said Kuyper, noting that 60 exhibitors had signed up by January for CBE.

Meanwhile, ECPA announced plans last fall to move its Publishing University from a physical event to multiple online Webinars for 2009.

The Webinar format will allow ECPA to tailor the matter to meet pressing industry needs, recruit previously unavailable or higher-profile presenters and schedule the seminars quickly, association officials said.

Unlike other publishers who are decreasing their participation in industry events, Standard Publishing was “increasing the number of trade shows we will attend, consistent with our strategy of increasing our channels of distribution,” said President Larry Carpenter.

Standard would attend The Gathering 2009, the Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit (RBTE), the Frankfurt Book Fair, The London Book Fair and Marketsquare International this year.

“We also plan a major presence at CBE,” Carpenter said. “We are cutting back our footprint at ICRS and BEA, so our overall trade show expenses do not go up significantly.”

Gift companies were also cutting back on trade shows. Brian Adkins, CEO and founder of Scripture Candy, said his staff contingent for ICRS this summer will dwindle to four—including himself—instead of the 12 people who traveled to the Orlando, Fla., show in 2008. Brownlow Gifts President Paul Brownlow said his company would have a smaller booth at ICRS in Denver.

Dicksons Vice President of Marketing Steve Mohler said the company would participate at ICRS, but it would not attend other trade shows this year, including the Munce Group’s Christian Product Expo (CPE) Hershey, held last month in Pennsylvania.

Last fall, Munce Group scrapped its CPE Regionals West show, which would have been held normally in January—citing a glut of trade events scheduled for that timeframe.

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