Christian retailers increase emphasis on ‘what you won’t find at Wal-Mart’ by being ‘more intentional’

Forget price, Christian stores are placing a renewed emphasis on one area of service where their big business competitors haven’t got a prayer of measuring up.

While many Christian retailers have long been ready to offer personal prayer to customers looking for help beyond a purchase, some are now being more intentional about the caring interaction “you won’t get at Wal-Mart.”

Initiatives include stores that promote a public prayer board and another where customers are invited to join in an informal prayer circle each afternoon.

The emphasis is “something that Christian retailers can do to demonstrate a real and tangible difference in the marketplace,” observed Curtis Riskey, executive director of CBA. “I have been in awe of the power of prayer in Christian retail stores and I hope it will continue.”

Customers at Kregel Parable Christian Stores in Grand Rapids, Mich., can pin prayer requests on the wall at both outlets, which introduced the public forum after unveiling a new mission statement last year to mark their centenary, “Sharing Hope for Today... and every tomorrow!”

The prayer centers are located near the checkouts in high traffic areas and notes are kept up for a month, with those taking part encouraged to return to give updates. Recent appeals include “strength and good health” for someone being treated for cancer and “wisdom for Diane as she seeks healing in her relationship with her daughter.”

“Things might look difficult right now, but we know that God answers prayer and we wanted to be more intentional about that,” said Kregel President Jim Kregel. “It’s been one more positive addition to the atmosphere and to the service that we offer.”

Like the Kregel staff and workers at many other Christian stores, management and frontliners at the CLC (Christian Literature Crusade) Christian Bookstore in Chestnut Hill, Pa., pray together before opening for business—but also recently introduced a mid-afternoon prayer time that customers are invited to join in with.

“Anyone that wants to is invited to participate. We just hold hands and pray,” said Manager Frank Falzone. “Some of the customers are very surprised and have told us that they feel blessed that we take the time to pray for others’ needs.”

One of the brief prayer times ended with a customer being led to Christ after the man told staff when they gathered together that he did not know whether he was saved. Members of the team then helped him select a Bible and gave him a free copy of Josh McDowell’s More Than a Conqueror to celebrate his decision.

“It was marvelous, one of those God moments,” said frontliner Yvonne Little, who first suggested the informal prayer times. “The man had been in church for many years but had never really understood who Christ is. I think God led him to our place because He knew what we were up to.”

Riskey said that CBA viewed Christian bookstores as “ministry initiators” in their communities, which “carries with it a responsibility to pray.

“Most of our stores and certainly our best Christian stores are role models for prayer, both internally and with customers, local church leaders and local ministries. ... It’s part and parcel of what Christian stores are all about.”

Inklings Bookstore at Cherry Hills Community Church in Highlands Ranch, Colo., is “like the local bar—people bear their hearts to the bartenders and sometimes will tell us things they maybe feel they cannot tell a pastor,” said manager Rusty Miller. “People are always very appreciative when we offer to pray for them.”

After one prayer time with a customer that left all those involved “a little teary,” one store worker told the woman, “You wouldn’t get that in Wal-Mart, would you?,” Miller recalled. “It kind of relieved the tension a little bit.”

At The Closer Walk in Fredericksburg, Texas, owner Sheila Sattler Kale has extended her focus on prayer out into the local community, coordinating a regular informal prayer gathering “asking for the presence of God to come in to the community and change what needs to be changed.”

“As a bookstore, we don’t have a vested interest in promoting any specific church,” she said. “I’m sort of a neutral voice and it has been a huge blessing to me to get to be part of it.”

Shoppers at Mardel Christian & Education are invited to leave prayer requests on special forms left at the stores’ free coffee counter, which staff respond to during their daily meeting. In addition, “if a staff person is comfortable praying for a customer and feels led to do so, then that is a wonderful ministry oppprtunbity,” said chain President Jason Green.

Staff at C28 clothing stores—located in malls where many visitors do not necessarily know that the business is Christian-based—”strive to pray with every customer,” said founder and CEO Aurelio Barreto. The California-based chain has prayer boards at some of its outlets, which have recorded more than 14,500 salvations since the first one opened in 2001.

At LifeWay Christian Stores, spokesperson Brooklyn Lowery said that managers in the chain were encouraged to hold a prayer time with staff at the start of each day. “Additionally, store personnel often pray with and for customers as appropriate to the customer’s stated or perceived situation.”

Riskey said that prayer in stores was part of what sets Christian retail apart from other channels.

“Active Christians go to Christian stores to fully engage in their passion for their faith and their passion to reach out and help others who are hurting. ... There is value add here, which has resulted in very loyal customers who visit the stores regularly and generate higher transaction rates than stores in other comparable retail segments,” he said.

“That’s because these people are not only nurturing their personal faith walks, but buying resources for personal evangelism and care of others.”

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