Despite losses, CBA leader is 'encouraged' with the number of stores opening versus previous years

Despite several Christian retailers recently going out of business, including former CBA Chairman Jim Whitaker closing his longtime store, the head of the Christian booksellers association says he is encouraged with the number of stores opening versus previous years.

Although 54 stores closed in 2011, 32 stores opened last year—more than twice as many opening in 2010, according to CBA. In 2010, 77 stores closed, while 14 stores opened that year.

“We're encouraged by seeing a number of stores opening versus previous years,” CBA Executive Director Curtis Riskey told Christian Retailing. “Their model has changed. They're doing things differently. Those are things we're taking a look at. They're approaching the market differently, and that's a good thing.”

However, some veteran retailers decided to shutter their businesses this summer. Citing the tough economy and stiff competition, Whitaker and his wife, Bonnie, closed New Life Christian Stores in Lynchburg, Va., at the end of August.

“After 23-plus years of serving the Lord through Christian retail, we feel God has something else He wants us to do,” the couple wrote on the stores' Facebook page. “With growing competition and a weak economy, we do not believe it is His will for us to struggle to make ends meet.

“We covet your prayers as we make this transition and seek God's plan for each member of our family,” they added. “We do intend to keep New Life Laser Engraving in operation [out of our home].”

The Whitakers closed their 6,000-square-foot location in July 2009, after steadily losing sales to increased local competition—including a LifeWay Christian Store that opened nearby. They moved to two smaller stores farther out of the city a few miles away, but the remaining store closed in August.

Whitaker resigned in October 2009 as CBA chairman, the same day then-CBA President and CEO Bill Anderson stepped down.

“Even though we will not have a brick-and-mortar store, we do plan to keep some vendor accounts open to serve a few customers with some bulk orders,” Whitaker said. “We are keeping the store website open for a while to allow customers to still buy some product through us that way. … One of the hardest parts of closing our bookstore is not being involved in an industry we love.

“We have many good friends that are part of Christian book-selling around the world,” he added. “We will greatly miss seeing these friends, but we intend to keep in touch through Facebook and other media.”

Meanwhile, Becky Hall Brown, owner of Place of Grace Christian Bookstore in Princeton, W.Va., decided to close her business in August. The store, which she opened in 2002, had steadily declined in sales since late 2009.

“We have had plans of moving locations for several months,” said Brown, who also has a photography business since 1997. “However, when we had exhausted all our personal financial efforts into the business, we made a very abrupt, but necessary, decision to finally close our store. Even with our myMEDIA BurnBar system in place, which enabled us on-site creation and delivery of music CDs and soundtracks, customers continue to choose Internet ordering for their soundtrack needs.

“It so annoys me to see the local Christian bookstore struggling these days,” she added. “Having given my heart and life to this ministry and industry for several years, I see the lack of concern for the small, local business most Christians have. ... Those who stand by the local store and truly savor our service and ministry to the community are those I will miss most.”

Elsewhere, Kira Brant, owner of Kira's Cottage Christian Store in Franklin, Ind., closed her store in May after nine years.

“It was time to close, even though I wasn't ready for it,” she said. “It was one of the hardest decisions I ever made, and the closing sale was almost unbearable at times. I was angry, confused, hurt. I wondered why we weren't supposed to make it.

“It wasn't that our store wasn't supposed to make it, it wasn't that we weren't good enough, strong enough or even rich enough,” Brant added. “It's that God had accomplished what He wanted to with Kira's Cottage, and it was now time to move on. That season was over in my life and I had to let it go.”

Brant is now teaching art classes, which she had done after graduating from college.

“Seeing so many other stores closing breaks my heart,” she said. “The money problems, fear of bills, worrying over what to do. It is so hard and I ache for anyone going through it. … I continually pray for all [the people] in the Christian retail industry.”

Another store—Come to the Waters Christian Books and Music in Alabaster, Ala.—was to shut its doors at the end of this month.

“We want to urge you to continue supporting small independent stores like us. Especially small independent Christian stores,” Warren Hamby, who opened Come to the Waters in 2001, wrote on the store's website. “Thousands have had to close during the last decade, and there are only two reasons we have been open this long. The first is that God wanted us to be here. The other reason is you.”

Riskey said “the loss of a Christian store often is like the loss of a friend or relative in the community.”

“It is truly a sad day when any Christian store closes,” said Riskey, who closed his store, BASIC (Brothers and Sisters in Christ) Books and Cafe in Oshkosh, Wis., in 2010 due to difficulties in running the business from a distance. Riskey moved to Colorado in 2007, when he joined CBA as strategic solutions executive.

“As the ways of business change, the role of all brick-and-mortar stores also is being redefined,” he added. “God certainly has a call on our lives as Christian retailers, and the gospel message and ministry will continue to be shared in some fashion through physical stores. As an industry, we are finding new ways to meet needs and provide Bible-based resources and materials to build faith and witness.”

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