GRAMMY-winning artist latest release is the first Christian album since 1997 to notch the top spot 

GRAMMY-winning artist TobyMac's latest release, Eye On It (ForeFront Records/EMI CMG Distribution), landed on the top spot on the Billboard Top 200 chart Sept. 5—marking only the third time ever that a Christian album hit No.1 on the main U.S. album chart.

Eye On It was also the first Christian album since 1997 to notch the top spot on the Billboard Top 200 after selling 69,000 copies in its first week, according to figures from Nielsen SoundScan. Released Aug. 28, the first Christian album also debuted at No. 1 on the Christian Albums chart.

Additionally, the album was No. 1 on the digital albums chart, with 35,000 downloads sold—50% of its overall debut, according to Billboard magazine. Sales for TobyMac's fifth studio album (27%) came from Christian bookstores, Nielsen SoundScan said.

TobyMac's chart-topper puts him in the company of country star LeAnn Rimes, whose inspirational record "You Light Up My Life" reached No. 1 on the Billboard chart in 1997, and Bob Carlisle, who notched two weeks on the top spot in the same year with "Butterfly Kisses (Shades of Grace)."

Eye On It is TobyMac's ninth entry and third top-10 placing on the Billboard Top 200. As part of the trio dcTalk, he claimed five more hit albums on the tally, including the No. 4 album Supernatural (Virgin Records) in 1998, according to Billboard.

Prior to TobyMac's achievement, other Christian bands had some recent close calls at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200. In 2011, Casting Crowns' Come to the Well (Beach Street Records/Provident) and Red's Until We Have Faces (Essential Records/Provident) both debuted and peaked at No. 2, while earlier this year, David Crowder Band's Give Us Rest (sixstepsrecords/EMI CMG) also topped out in the runner-up slot.

In other music news, singer-songwriter Matthew West was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Best Original Music and Lyrics for his song “The Heart of Christmas” from the film of the same name.

Distributed by Mission Pictures International, the film debuted on GMC in December 2011 and attracted more than 3.6 million viewers, making it the highest-rated, world-premiere movie in the history of the network.

Based on real-life events, The Heart of Christmas tells the inspirational story of 2-year-old Dax Locke, whose struggle with Leukemia sparked a worldwide outpouring of support for his family. Despite treatment, the doctors tell Dax’s parents that he will not live to see Christmas Day. Driven by their faith and determined to give their son one last Christmas, Dax’s parents decide to put decorations up early and celebrate the birth of Jesus. Image Entertainment plans to release the 86-minute DVD Oct. 9.

Earlier this year, West was also nominated for two GRAMMY Awards, a GMA Dove Award and a Billboard Music Award.

Nori Media Group formed as the parent company of charismatic publisher's expanding divisions

The owners of Pennsylvania-based charismatic publisher Destiny Image recently formed Nori Media Group (NMG) as the parent company of their expanding divisions.

Nathan Martin, who has been with the company for 13 years, most recently serving in the role of chief financial officer, will serve as president of NMG to oversee and support the divisions Destiny Image, Sound Wisdom and Destiny Image Films. Sound Wisdom produces books, audio and video for personal development and business. Destiny Image produces small-group curricula.

Owners Donald Nori Jr. and Jon Nori made the move “based on the need for strategic development.”

Martin is “like a brother to me,” said Nori Jr., who will serve as NMG's CEO. “I believe he will not only pick up where I left off, but I am confident that he will take all ventures of the Nori Media Group to new and exciting heights, only increasing the company’s momentum for the years ahead.”

Destiny Image is home to New York Times and USA Today best-selling authors, including T.D. Jakes, Cindy Trimm, Jackie Kendall, Bill Johnson, Tommy Tenney and Myles Munroe.

“We’ve taken on several new challenges—curriculum development, church market growth and digital products,” Martin said. “We’re cutting back the number of titles released per month and focusing more time and marketing efforts on each new release.

“My vision is to unlock the potential of our employees, authors and company, and by doing so, see our readers genuinely impacted by the quality of resources we produce,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ingram Publisher Services, an Ingram Content Group company, recently announced an agreement with Destiny Image to grow the reach of its publishing program to more retailers worldwide. Ingram will begin distributing Destiny Image books and Destiny Image Films products beginning in January 2013.

“We are eager to increase our sales with Christian and independent bookstores,” said Don Nori Sr., founder and author. “In a changing market, Ingram has the solutions required to expand our reach to an even broader audience. We’re already taking advantage of Ingram’s CoreSource platform and print-on-demand through Lightning Source, and the addition of sales and distribution will further position us for future success.”

Mark Ouimet, vice president and general manager of Ingram Publisher Services, added: “The combination of Ingram’s integrated services, extensive distribution network and long-standing Spring Arbor relationships in the Christian market provide a unique solution for publishers to get the most value out of their content and reach more readers. We are pleased that Destiny Image has our full offering available to them to expand its worldwide reach and drive sales in both print and digital.”

Executives from Zondervan and Thomas Nelson 'to preserve publishing groups' unique editorial focus'

HarperCollins’ new Christian division, comprised of Zondervan and the newly acquired Thomas Nelson, has announced its new leadership team, featuring executives from both publishers.

Reporting to Mark Schoenwald, newly named president and CEO of HarperCollins Christian Publishing Division, the team includes:

• Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Stuart Bitting (formerly executive vice president and CFO at Thomas Nelson);
• Senior Vice President of Zondervan Book Publishing Annette Bourland (formerly senior vice president and publisher at Zondervan);
• Senior Vice President of Thomas Nelson Book Publishing David Moberg (formerly vice president and group publisher at Thomas Nelson);
• Senior Vice President of Bible Publishing Chip Brown (formerly senior vice president and publisher at Zondervan);
• Senior Vice President of Church, Academic and Reference Resources Paul Engle (formerly senior vice president and publisher at Zondervan);
• Zondervan Editor-in-Chief Stan Gundry (formerly executive vice president and editor-in-chief at Zondervan);
• Senior Vice President of eMedia Eric Shanfelt, who had the same position at Thomas Nelson;
• Senior Vice President of Spanish and International Publishing Tod Shuttleworth (formerly senior vice president and group publisher at Thomas Nelson);
• Managing Director of Live Events Management Carol Nygren (formerly executive vice president and managing director of live event management at Thomas Nelson);
• Senior Vice President of Sales Tom Knight, who held the same position at Thomas Nelson;
• General Manager of Bible Gateway Rachel Barach, who had the same position at Zondervan;
• Senior Vice President of Support Operations and Human Resources Al Kerkstra, who held the same position at Zondervan; and
• Director of Corporate Communications Casey Harrell, who had the same position at Thomas Nelson.

“I am confident in this team’s ability to lead the company through decisions that will be crucial for driving growth and fulfilling the publishing groups’ missions,” Schoenwald said. “We will continue to work through every aspect of the business to build an organization focused on innovation and execution, committed to honoring God and serving our partners.”

Announced in September, the leadership team will “work together to preserve the two publishing group’s unique editorial focus, while pursuing mutually beneficial collaborative opportunities for the new division,” HarperCollins said.

Formerly president and CEO of Thomas Nelson, Schoenwald reports to Brian Murray, president and CEO of HarperCollins Publishers Worldwide, and serves on the HarperCollins executive committee.

Schoenwald continues to be based in Nashville, and will spend part of his time in Grand Rapids, Mich., where Zondervan will continue its operations. However, it has only signed a one-year lease.

Last fall, HarperCollins agreed to buy Thomas Nelson, but did not disclose the purchase price although it was reported by several media outlets to be $200 million. In mid-2010, an investor group led by Kohlberg & Co. bought majority ownership in the Nashville publishing company.

Event was ‘a great encouragement,’ as marketing group's show receives boost from Episcopalians

Despite a continuing challenging economy, Christian Product Expo (CPE) Murfreesboro 2012 saw an increase in retailer and supplier attendance compared to last year’s Munce Group fall show. More than 400 retailers and vendors attended the ninth annual CPE, held Sept. 16-18 at the Embassy Suites Murfreesboro hotel and conference center in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

“We were up by about 25 retailers and 15 vendors,” Munce Group President Kirk Blank told Christian Retailing. “That’s about a 10% increase this year from last year. … Although stores voiced concerns about the economy and negativity related to the presidential election, the tone was more about what independents can do and will do to remain effective, relevant and profitable.

“Vendors and retailers were genuinely interested in working together in this difficult economy and were wholeheartedly engaged in business and ministry, while moving forward to serve the Lord,” he added.

The show received an attendance boost from the Episcopal Booksellers Association (EBA), which moved its annual meeting to CPE Murfreesboro from its long-term home at the Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit (RBTE) to lower the cost of attendance, provide access to specialized training and offer buyers access to a broader variety of books and gifts. The Episcopalians had met at the venue of RBTE, the majority Roman Catholic trade show, since EBA’s inception in 1997.

“It has been a draining year,” said Martha Melling, owner of Community Christian Store in Summerville, S.C. “We needed the encouragement and information.”

Suppliers also saw positive business.

“CPE is always a home run for us,” said Larry Avery, a sales representative for Zondervan. “We wrote more business here [at CPE] than any other convention.”

In addition to a time management/planning workshop and Bible version training presented by Tyndale House Publishers, the event's Bible conference featured author Ann Spangler (The One Year Devotions for Women, Tyndale House Publishers) and GRAMMY-nominated singer Kim Hill.

“We love seeing the vendors and experiencing the quality education [from the workshops], the encouragement from the Bible conference, and the lodging and meals are outstanding,” said Ginny Lagergren, owner of The Lighthouse Christian bookstore in La Junta, Colo.

Sonya Higgs, owner of Christian Book & Gift Shop in Greeneville, Tenn., added: “This was a great first experience. Everyone was so welcoming and helpful, and I was rejuvenated spiritually.”

Besides Bookstore Manager training, retailer-led workshops included increasing sales through fair trade, church supplies, social media, lifestyle shopping, thrift stores, Bible and reference, and Messianic resources.

Rob Morgan, pastor and author of Then Sings My Soul (Howard Books), spoke during the Night of Worship, which featured new artist Kyle Sherman (RaeLynn Records/Provident Distribution). Among the main speakers at the event were Max Lucado and Charles Stanley. Attendees also enjoyed a screening of the film Unconditional.

“The sharing of ideas and encouragement with other stores is so wonderful—as is the spiritual uplift from artists and authors,” said Trisha Taylor, owner of Cornerstone Christian Supply in Cheyenne, Wyo. “I look forward all year to CPE.”

Richard Magnuson, owner of Harbor House Christian Store in Chariton, Iowa, agreed.

“CPE was a great encouragement to us. It gave us fresh ideas and good contacts,” he said.

Mark Schoepke, owner of Tree of Life Christian Outlets and Stores in Oregon and Washington, was the grand-prize winner of a cash-prize drawing, taking home $1,500.

Munce emphasizes order-writing at CPE by motivating retailers with a reimbursement program that helps to offset travel, food and hotel expenses, based on reaching order-writing goals. Marking its 20th anniversary in 2011, the marketing group has nearly 500 stores nationwide in its membership.

Munce's winter show, CPE Hershey will be held Jan. 20-22, 2013, returning to the Hershey Lodge in Hershey, Pa. The show will feature best-selling Love Languages author Gary Chapman as keynote speaker. The event was moved to the new Lancaster County Convention Center in Lancaster, Pa., earlier this year, but the distance from the airport and other factors led Munce back to Hershey.

Judge's decision on civil antitrust case will 'diminish competition' in digital book market

A judge's decision in favor of the federal government could start an e-book price war and limit competition, critics say.

The approval of a settlement between the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), and Hachette Book Group, HarperCollins Publishers and Simon & Schuster in a civil antitrust case that accused the companies of price-fixing digital books could have a negative impact on Christian retailers, according to industry observers.

In September, Denise Cote, federal district judge in Manhattan, N.Y., approved the settlement shortly after the three major publishers reached a deal for more than $70 million with 54 states and U.S. territories to settle their price-fixing claims. Cote has also granted preliminary approval to the e-book settlement involving states and territories.

Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) President and CEO Mark Kuyper told Christian Retailing that Cole's decision could have “a very negative impact” on any retailer that sells e-books.

“While I appreciate all that Amazon.com offers to consumers, I believe the market would be better served by multiple, strong retail partners,” he said. “I believe Judge Cole's decision will, over the next few years, result in diminished competition in the e-book retail sector, contributing to the closing of many more retail outlets.”

“The judge said she believes 'these provisions suggest that they will not unduly dictate the ultimate contours of competition,' but I, and virtually all publishers and retailers I have spoken with, believe that this will prove to be false,” Kuyper added.

In her ruling, Cote called the matter a “straightforward price-fixing case,” of which the settlement had been widely expected to be approved, the New York Times Times reported. The ruling promised to empower Amazon to drop the price of many e-books back to $9.99 or lower in the coming months, a move that could pressure competing retailers to do the same.

The DOJ filed the antitrust suit in April against computer giant Apple and five publishers—Hachette, HarperCollins, Simon & Schuster, Penguin Group (USA) and Holtzbrinck Publishers (Macmillan)—to allow greater competition on e-book prices. Hachette, HarperCollins and Simon & Schuster denied wrongdoing, but agreed to settle with the government. However, Penguin, Holtzbrinck and Apple declined a settlement, so the companies face a trial next summer.

The DOJ said that the defendants sought to raise e-book prices “significantly higher” than the $9.99 level at which they were selling, Bloomberg reported. The publishers viewed Amazon.com’s discounted prices on e-books as a “substantial challenge to their traditional business model,” according to the complaint.

Hachette publishes Christian books under its FaithWords and Jericho Books imprints. HarperCollins is the parent company of Zondervan and Thomas Nelson. Simon & Schuster publishes Christian titles under Howard Books.

The settlement was criticized by Barnes & Noble, the Authors Guild and the American Booksellers Association. When the settlement was first announced, Amazon called it “a big win for Kindle owners,” and said it looked forward to eventually lowering its prices on e-books.

Chuck Wallington, president of Covenant Group and a leader in getting e-books into Christian stores last fall, told Christian Retailing that “all of us are still up in the air about what it [all] means.”

“All I know at present is that one of our top e-book publishers just sent us a termination letter saying the agreement would terminate on Oct. 10, but they would have a new contract to us shortly and not to expect any interruption in the ability to offer their titles,” he said. “So, at this point, we’re just staying tuned to see what happens.”

Baker Publishing Group Executive Vice President of Sales and Marketing David Lewis agreed.

“It remains unclear to us what the apparent demand to remove the 'most-favored nation' clause in e-book contracts for those companies who are settling will mean for publishers not being sued in court,” he said. “Currently, Baker Publishing Group sells e-books under distribution agreements with all accounts except Apple. Therefore, we do not expect a significant change in our e-book sales from this settlement agreement.”

Chain appoints industry veteran to lead the area 'new customers are gravitating towards' 

Berean Christian Stores has expanded its film, music and digital business, while announcing the appointment of industry veteran Mark Beyer as senior entertainment buyer.

"We see entertainment as a growing category, representing a media that new customers are gravitating towards,” said Bill Nielsen, chief operating officer of Berean Christian Stores. “We want to continue to provide an overall in-store shopping experience for our customers, as well as support several of our strategic supplier partners."

Prior to joining Berean in September, Beyer served in various roles at LifeWay Christian Stores and before that at Family Christian Stores.

“We are making several investments in the film, music and digital categories as we see them being a strategic opportunity for us to grow our ministry and business as we serve both today’s and tomorrow’s customer,” Nielsen said. “Mark is a seasoned 23-year veteran with strong industry contacts and we have chosen to allow him to work out of Nashville to enable him to provide Berean with strong representation to the industry that is so firmly based in that market.”

Beyer said he was “especially eager to collaborate with our vendors on some exciting ways we can help local ministries through our new Give Hope In Deed project, where each Berean store is actively involved in local Christian ministry to people who are hurting or in need.”

Give Hope In Deed is an extension of the chain's Give Hope ministry, in which a Berean store partners with ministries in the community such as orphanages, schools for homeless children, crisis pregnancy centers and battered women's shelters. Throughout the year, customers donate to the ministries either monetarily or by donating clothing, food and supplies at the stores.

Starting Nov. 1, customers can purchase a product, and through Give Hope In Deed give the item to someone they know or donate it to one of the store's ministry partners.

Based in Cincinnati, the 18-outlet chain—which dates back to 1934—joined Covenant Group in June, increasing the country’s second-largest independent Christian chain's membership by approximately 50%.

LifeWay Christian Resources' publishing arm has been buoyed by a number of recent best-sellers

Buoyed by a number of recent best-sellers, B&H Publishing Group has seen an “incredible turnaround,” according to its parent company, LifeWay Christian Resources (LCR) publishing arm.

During LifeWay's trustees meeting Aug, 27-28 at Ridgecrest Conference Center in Ridgecrest, N.C., Thom Rainer, president of LCR, told the group that he was encouraged with "the incredible turnaround of B&H Publishing Group, which was once an afterthought but is now a strategic part of our organization," Baptist Press (BP) reported.

B&H Publishing has released a number of best-sellers in the last year, including The Resolution for Men by Stephen and Alex Kendrick, and The Resolution for Women by Priscilla Shirer—both tie-ins to the faith-based police drama Courageous.

B&H also recently launched B&H Kids, a new children’s imprint. Releasing this fall, the first titles will feature two film tie-ins, including Firebird by Brent McCorkle and Amy Parker (October)—a story featured in the movie Unconditional, released last month. The other tie-in is Courageous Teens by Michael Catt and Amy Parker, released in September and the latest in a string of products based on the 2011 Sherwood Pictures movie, Courageous.

Rainer cited the "incredible success" of the launch of the new, three-year Gospel Project Bible study curriculum, which examines the larger narrative of the Scriptures and how the gospel changes lives. The first quarter was in its fourth printing at press time, and it is “very likely that half a million people will be engaged in The Gospel Project by the spring,” said Ed Stetzer, general editor the curriculum.

"We're not going to stop with the Gospel Project," Rainer said. "We're planning other curriculum launches and relaunches. We're not going to be satisfied until we've brought curricula to the bride of Christ that is deeper and more relevant to churches and individuals."

Meanwhile, LifeWay's trustees passed a motion to continue selling the updated New International Version (NIV) Bible in its LifeWay stores. The action was in response to a motion referred by the Southern Baptist Convention this summer requesting that LifeWay reconsider its decision in February, following an exhaustive study, to continue selling the NIV 2011 translation, BP reported.

"Our decision to sell the 2011 NIV does not constitute an endorsement of it,” board chairman Adam Greenway, who chaired the study committee, told trustees. “We endorse what we publish, and we publish and endorse the HCSB [Holman Christian Standard Bible]."

Provident Distribution, Tyndale House Publishers, Lighthouse Christian Products honored among 'industry’s elite suppliers'

Family Christian Stores (FCS) has recognized Provident Distribution, Tyndale House Publishers, Lighthouse Christian Products, Bridgestone Multimedia Group and Evergreen Enterprises as “the industry’s elite suppliers.”

On Aug. 2, the largest Christian retail chain—with almost 300 outlets nationwide—presented its 2012 Vendor Awards in Grand Rapids, Mich., recognizing five vendors in the categories of Supplier of the Year, Ministry Impact, Business Innovation, Partnership and Service and Distribution.

The awards' top honor, Supplier of the Year, was given to Provident Distribution “for its overall focus on business growth, strength in service, marketing and promotional efforts support, and excellence in product innovation,” FCS said.

In the past year, Provident has released albums from Casting Crowns and MercyMe, as well as the faith-based films Courageous and October Baby. Provident “demonstrates great creativity in promoting key releases in ways that drive sales,” as well as raising almost $75,000 for The James Fund, the primary philanthropy of Family, Family Christian said.

The Ministry Impact award went to Tyndale House Publishers. Tyndale recently partnered with Family Christian on three separate ministry Bible initiatives in which customers could donate a Bible to a woman seeking help at a crisis pregnancy center, a high school student in Ghana, Africa and a Spanish-speaking child in Latin America. Through the programs, FCS’ customers have donated more than a million Bibles in the past three years.

For the second year in a row, the Business Innovation Award was given to gift company Lighthouse Christian Products (LCP).

“This year, they created a new company to serve Family Christian’s expanding direct import needs, offering up excellent product development and effective sourcing practices,” FCS said. “They continue to show creativity in product design that targets Family’s core customers, and they are a leader in improving terms, lead times, fill rates and responsiveness.”

The Partnership Award was presented to Bridgestone Multimedia Group for “partnering with Family Christian to achieve solid business metrics, strong marketing and co-op participation and exceptional support of many promotional initiatives,” FCS said. “They are eager to think creatively and demonstrate great flexibility in business practices that drive sales without hurting the bottom line.”

The Service and Distribution Award went to Evergreen Enterprises, a designer and manufacturer of home and garden décor, for “maintaining a strong in-stock position, providing cost savings and profitability with margin improvement, and partnering on freight efficiency,” FCS said. “Family Christian has enjoyed strong sales of Evergreen’s acrylic cups and ceramic mugs this year, including many designs that were created exclusively for the chain.”

The Vendor Awards are “intended to recognize and honor the very best of those vendors in key categories each year,” said Family Christian Senior Vice President of Merchandising Craig Klamer. “The special partnerships we’ve built with each of these organizations, and the unique ways we’ve been able to work together, are what help Family Christian accomplish its purpose of spreading God’s Word and serving the widow and the orphan. The awards are a small token of our appreciation, but we are so grateful to be working collaboratively with suppliers who share a common vision with us towards achieving our calling.”

The vendors recognized each received a LCP bronze statue designed by artist Max Greiner and entitled The Divine Servant, depicting the account of Jesus kneeling to wash the apostle Peter’s feet.

In addition to the awards ceremony, vendors attended Family Christian’s annual James Fund event, A Day of Serving, A Night of Giving, featuring performances by Matthew West, Sanctus Real and Karyn Williams, as well as an inspirational message from author and motivational speaker Pat Williams.

Legal action contends 'Obamacare' mandate violates business owners' religious beliefs 

Citing “religious objection,” Hobby Lobby and its sister company, Mardel Christian & Education, have filed a federal lawsuit challenging a mandate in the nation’s health care overhaul law that requires employers to provide coverage for the “morning-after,” abortion-inducing pill and similar drugs.

Filed Sept. 12 in U.S. District Court for the Western Division of Oklahoma, the suit by the Oklahoma City-based Hobby Lobby chain claims the government mandate is forcing the company’s owners “to violate their deeply held religious beliefs under threat of heavy fines, penalties and lawsuits.” Failure to provide the drugs in the company’s health insurance plan could lead to fines of up to $1.3 million a day, the company said.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld “Obamacare” as constitutional. Formally known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Obamacare includes a “preventive services” mandate issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), which forces businesses to provide the morning-after and “week-after” pills—without co-pay—in their health insurance plans.

“By being required to make a choice between sacrificing our faith or paying millions of dollars in fines, we essentially must choose which poison pill to swallow,” David Green, Hobby Lobby CEO and founder, said in a statement. “We simply cannot abandon our religious beliefs to comply with this mandate.”

Green's son, Mart Green, is president of Mardel, and several of his grandchildren also work in the Christian retail chain that operates 35 stores in seven states and has 372 full-time employees. Hobby Lobby is self-insured and will be required to comply with the mandate by Jan. 1, the start of its health insurance plan year.

“We are confident that the court will act quickly,” said Kyle Duncan, general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty in Washington, D.C., which represents Hobby Lobby. “This mandate violates the religious liberty of millions of Americans. The government has turned a deaf ear to the rights of business owners.”

Duncan told Christian Retailing that the government has delayed implementing the mandate for nonprofits for a year, but not so for business owners.

“This mandate is a problem for Christian business owners,” he said. “We hope other Christian retail chains besides Mardel will follow suit. The mandate goes into effect very soon. It's an urgent issue.”

Duncan said the lawsuit does not challenge the rules regarding a variety of other birth-control measures. He added that 27 other lawsuits have been filed nationwide regarding the mandate, mostly by nonprofit groups.

Hobby Lobby is the largest and only non-Catholic-owned business to file suit against the HHS mandate that forces all companies, regardless of religious conviction, to provide coverage of abortion-inducing drugs, Associated Press reported.

“The Green family’s religious beliefs forbid them from participating in, providing access to, paying for, training others to engage in or otherwise supporting abortion-causing drugs and devices,” the lawsuit stated.

It also said the family has “a sincere religious objection” to providing coverage for certain kinds of intrauterine devices and alleges they can cause the death of an embryo by preventing it from implanting in the wall of a woman’s uterus.

Besides Hobby Lobby, Becket Fund also represents several nonprofits in the HHS mandate suit, including Wheaton College, Geneva College, Colorado Christian University, the Eternal Word Television Network and Ave Maria University.

Hobby Lobby operates more than 500 stores in 41 states and employs more than 13,000 full-time employees.

Pair of strong retail locations now draw customers with key promotions, serve church needs well

More than a century ago, Louis Kregel launched a small home business to sell theological books to farmers, first in Dutch, then in English. When his wife, Lena, decided it was time to have her house back, Kregel opened a store in Grand Rapids’ commercial area in 1929. Today—103 years later—the retail operation is known as Kregel Parable Christian Stores, having been accepted in 1992 as the exclusive Grand Rapids-area member of the Parable Marketing Group and joining as a franchise store in 2005.

With Jim Kregel—grandson of the founder, son of former Christian Booksellers Association President and Kregel Publications Robert Kregel and former board chairman of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association—at the retail helm, Kregel Parable’s two full-service locations in Grand Rapids and Grandville serve their West Michigan communities and beyond.

Kregel Parable also has close ties to Baker Book House, which branched off of the original Kregel Bookstores’ business in 1939 when the founder’s nephew, Herman Baker, started another store in Grand Rapids. Kregel Publications was also born out of the Kregel retail business, and Editorial Portavoz, the Spanish publishing operation now in Grand Rapids, was started in Spain by Harold Kregel.

Kregel Bookstores’ second store was relocated in downtown Grandville in 1991 and remodeled in 2005. The Grandville store now has 4,100 square feet of selling space, while nine miles away the Grand Rapids location occupies 5,200 square feet.

Kregel Parable makes a habit of serving area churches well and as a result, has a booming Sunday school and Vacation Bible School (VBS) curriculum business. Bob Gillett, a seasoned industry professional with 40 years of experience in books and church supplies, serves churches through the Ministry Resources Department, calling on congregations and maintaining regular contact with them.

“Quite a large number of churches, at least in the West Michigan area, buy their curriculum from us,” Jim Kregel told Christian Retailing. “We offer about 10 lines of curriculum at last count, maybe more.”

Both stores also hold curriculum open houses. For VBS, The Grand Rapids store hosts a larger off-site workshop, and the Grandville store a smaller on-site workshop.

Book signings have featured Ed Dobson and Beverly Lewis, among others. The signing with Lewis was advertised jointly with Baker Book House, described by Kregel as “good friends and great competitors of ours.” The two stores are also jointly advertising Christian Store Week.

Having cut back on traditional media because of the cost-benefit ratio, the store has “migrated pretty solidly to social media” to advertise signings, Kregel said, noting that Manager Jeremy Fleming excels in that area. Kregel Parable has 11,000 on its email list of individuals and a email list of around 500 churches. Along with its website and regular Facebook page, the store has a dedicated page on Facebook for Ministry Resources, where churches are invited to post comments about curriculum and their VBS program photos. The store also has a significant direct-mail list of about 30,000.

Along with book signings, Kregel Parable is strong in other promotions as well. The store offered an Olympics-themed event during the London games. Customers received a discount depending on how many gold medals U.S. Olympians won the previous day.

Another sport-themed promotion drew football fans in September. Customers could save 25% on select football-themed titles, including Michael Vick’s Finally Free and Chris Spielman’s That’s Why I Am Here. Winning a kid’s football toss in the store could mean extra savings off a purchase, and customers could also enter to win a football signed by Washington Redskins Quarterback Kirk Cousins.

Customers can also vote for their favorite fiction or nonfiction author in with a special ballot—a promotion that runs for about five weeks until the presidential election. Those who vote were to be entered in a drawing for a free book from their favorite author, and with any purchase could receive a free flag lapel pin to evidence their intention to vote Nov. 6. The author who wins the “election” will have their product on sale for a week.

“Every supplier has shown enthusiastic support for this,” said Kregel. “We think it will be a great additional promo to additionally connect new and existing customers to the books, authors and artists offered by Kregel Parable.”

The store also does an annual private sale for its top customers, inviting them for hor d’oeuvres and to use an “extra special discount,” Kregel said.

Aiming to reconnect with customers who haven’t made purchases in the store for some time, frontliners select a customer once a week to receive an appreciation card with the store’s photo on it where they have shopped in the past. It includes a message that encourages the customer, and the store is “seeing good response to that,” Kregel said.

About 20-30 pastors were expected for a continental breakfast in the store and a live Ustream event with Maurilio Amorim, CEO of The A Group who works with on leadership issue and a Q&A session.

Bibles compose around 11% of the store’s sales on a yearly basis. While the New International Version is still dominant, some churches in the area are switching to the English Standard Version, which is “rising in dominance,” Kregel said.

“We sell significant portions of fiction books at our Grandville store,” said Fleming, which he attributes to employees who are passionate about fiction.

The store sells ebooks on its website, and promotes them through Parable signage throughout the store, as well as on the overhead monitors at the cash wraps that run non-stop DVDs about pre-buy orders and other opportunities.

In gifts, the store carries the full line of Willow Tree figures and a majority of Demdaco’s Embellish line, and is new to fair trade.

“We’re seeing growth and a lot of potential especially with the P. Graham Dunn laser engraver,” Kregel said.

The store does offer an important message to its customers: buy local. A special sign posted on endcaps reads “See It Here, Buy It Here, Keeps US Here,” reminding customers to support the store rather than engaging in “showrooming,” where they look around the store, but buy their products elsewhere, especially online.

Kregel Parable at a glance

Years in existence: 103

Size: 5,200 square feet, Grand Rapids; 4,100, Grandville

Staff: 15 part-time, three to four full-time equivalent

Open hours: 10 a.m.-8 p.m., Monday-Saturday; 9 a.m.-9 p.m. after Thanksgiving

Website: Kregel.Parable.com