Focal point for church stores on the exhibit hall floor was ‘a place for fellowship and to share information’

The Church Connection Center was the focal point at ICRS for church store managers and staff—and those considering entering the church store market.

With activities coordinated by consultant Geni Hulsey and the Church Store Network along with CBA, ICRS offered a number of workshops, product display tables, a Church Store Luncheon and other opportunities for networking and engaging with church store staff.

With a convenient location on the show floor, the center helped to draw more church bookstore leaders, Hulsey said. Last year, church store workshops took place in a room outside the floor area.

Using Social Media Effectively for Church Stores by consultant and marketing strategist Gunnar Simonsen; The Key to Success: Inventory by Karen Bilbrey, director of business development at Send The Light Distribution; and Events—Inside and Out with Rose Seeley, retail services director, Cottonwood Bookstore in Los Alamitos, Calif., and, by video, Martha Brangenberg, manager of Charis Christian Bookstore in Largo, Fla., presented a few of the workshops that drew interest.

In the social media session, Simonsen urged church store staff to pay attention to the human element of Facebook, Twitter and the like, and to engage by listening to what others are doing and saying online.

“If we fail to humanize social media, we fail to set sail to something that is sustainable,” Simonsen observed.

In coming up with a strategy, Simonsen said two of the big questions church stores have to ask are “Where do we want to take our audience?” and “What do we want to awaken in our audience?”

In Bilbrey’s workshop, she focused on creating a good product mix, inventory turns, P.O.S. systems and evaluating sales success.

“Be cautious about opening accounts with too many vendors,” she said. “Instead, evaluate which vendors you are seeing consistent sales/orders with.”

Seeley and Brangenberg’s presentation made event planning easier with helpful hints, checklists and pre-made forms. The presenters covered what to do before, during and after every event as well as the timing and steps required.

“One to two weeks before the event, hold final staff meetings and review your to-do list,” said Seeley. “You also should meet with volunteer staff if necessary and get the store ready for the event.”

Cesar Loya, manager at Parchments at Calvary in Albuquerque, N.M., said he found the session presented by Mary Lou Alexander of Spring Arbor Distributors “very helpful.” 

“We at the store have made it a goal in the past to help other churches establish bookstores,” Loya said. “The information that she shared was very clear and concise.”

The idea for the center was to give  church bookstores an opportunity to connect with one another.

“There are issues within the church bookstore and operating a church bookstore that are different from an independent store or a chain store,” she said. “Our purpose was to address that. We also wanted to allow a place for fellowship and to share information.”

The luncheon—sponsored by Send The Light, Rose Publishing, Bridge-Logos, Innovative and Signature Websites Network—was a highlight Tuesday with an appearance by John Morgan, a George W. Bush impersonator and address from author Kathi Macias on human trafficking.

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