Chuck Wallington shared tips to help stores ‘figure out what works’

A third-generation Christian retailer encouraged approximately 40 of his fellow retailers to be relevant in today’s culture. 

In the “Retail Trends: What Do Your Customers Say?” workshop, Covenant Group founder and President Chuck Wallington shared tips and pointers to help Christian retailers become “the preferred choice of modern customers.”

“Today’s shopper is more empowered than ever,” said Wallington, owner of Christian Supply in Spartanburg, S.C. “They can do more with what’s in their pockets. … What do we do about it?

“If you’re looking for a silver bullet, the Lone Ranger died a long time ago. The answer is different for each one of us. We have to figure out what works.”

Wallington discussed his five “ex-factors in retail trends”: Examine (look at your store through your “customers’ eyes”); Exploit (find ways to leverage your brick-and-mortar advantage over online competitors); Expand (find products you “can own” and get decent margin with them); Express (find ways to connect with your customers through old-fashioned media such as thank-you cards and new media such as Facebook and Twitter); and Exit.

“If you’re not going to change, you might as well exit,” said Wallington, whose Covenant Group offers ebooks and recently launched a mobile app. “The good old days are not coming back. … We absolutely have to make it. I encourage you to stay the course and finish the race.”

Joanne Sheehan, manager of Promise Book Shoppe in Tarpon Springs, Fla., said that Wallington’s bullet points “help me apply and retain what I learned for our shop,” she said. “I’m now seriously looking into ebooks.”

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