Saved by Grace (savedbygrace.org), a Christian clothing line dedicated to assisting homeless families in shelters across the nation, this week announced a planned donation of 1,000 garments to Buckhead Christian Ministry (buckheadchristianministry.org) at the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS). The CBA convention will be held June 22-25 in Atlanta.

Saved by Grace recently launched the Grace for Two Project (GF2P, gracefortwo.org), which provides clothing to homeless families in shelters through a buy one, give one model with participating retailers and ambassadors from universities and churches.

Public relations industry professionals Heather Adams and Beth Gebhard have joined forces to launch Choice Media & Communications, a boutique media and communications business specializing in lifestyle- and entertainment-based projects. The company will offer clients a full range of communications services, including public relations, media relations, corporate communications, crisis communications and branding and strategy.

With more than three decades of combined, high-level professional communications experience across varying industries, the two have helped launch more than 75 New York Times best-sellers, crafted publicity campaigns that played across all of today’s major national media outlets and served in integral corporate communications roles at top entertainment companies, including ABC Entertainment/The Walt Disney Co., OWN: The Oprah Winfrey Network, Thomas Nelson and Zondervan.

Larry Downs Sr. also given special honor for years of service

// Spanish Market

B&H Español received the Publisher of the Year award for the second year in a row at the Spanish Evangelical Publishers Association (SEPA) Awards Banquet on April 30. Held prior to the May 1-4 Expolit 2014 event in Miami, the awards banquet saw several publishers receiving book and Bible awards as well as honors for sales.

A special award was given to Larry  Downs Sr., manager of key accounts, Spanish sales at Thomas Nelson, for his 50 years of service and outstanding contribution to the Spanish Christian publishing industry. Downs oversaw a Peruvian bookstore, which grew into a distributor and then moved to Miami. He and Ralph Gates ran SAM Literature, later known as Libros International. Downs later worked for Editorial Vida and Editorial Unilit before joining Thomas Nelson in 2005.

During the SEPA banquet, publisher B&H Español also won five awards for individual titles, including Best Specialty Bible and Best Cover and Interior Design (RVR 1960 Biblia del Pescador/RVR 1960 Fisher of Men).

Editorial Clie took home two big prizes for Gran Diccionario Enciclopédico de la Biblia—Book of the Year Harold Kregel Award and Best Original Book in Spanish.

Gary Chapman’s Los Cinco Lenguajes del Amor/The Five Love Languages won two Best-selling Book awards for Unilit, the first time a single title won trade- and pocket-size awards. Another classic by the publisher, Josh McDowell’s Más que un Carpintero/More Than a Carpenter, was added to the Galería de Honor for sales of more than 1 million copies.

Casa Creación won for Leadership (John Maxwell’s Las 15 Leyes Indispensables del Crecimiento/The 15 Invaluable Laws of Growth), Christian Life (Joel Osteen’s Yo Declaro/I Declare) and Gift Book (John Eckhardt’s Declaraciones Diarias de Guerra Espiritual Para la Mujer/Women’s Daily Declarations for Spiritual Warfare).

Learn more at sepaweb.org. —Burns

African country’s CBA organization reports postponement of new law’s implementation

// NIGERIA

A significant new book tariff announced recently in Nigeria may not be enacted after all, adding just one more question for retailers and publishers doing business in a country experiencing its share of change, persecution and violence.

Nigeria’s Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala announced March 18 that the country was planning to impose a 62.5% tariff on imported printed books, according to Africaisacountry.com. The story went on to say that the tariff was approved in a ministry circular Feb. 28, but would apply retroactively from Jan. 1. That decision represented a departure from a UNESCO agreement signed 60 years ago in which officials agreed not to impose charges on imported books, publications and educational materials.

Christian Booksellers Association Nigeria (CBAN) had some good news for Christian publishers, however.

“Members of Christian Booksellers Association Nigeria who had shipments of Christian books and Bibles have not had to pay any tariff on their goods,” said CBAN National Administrative Secretary Charity Akinwunmi.

The secretary said that CBAN officials have been in discussions with the government and have learned that the implementation of the new tariff has been suspended until Sept. 30.

Akinwunmi also noted that retailers are seeing a distinction between how general interest and religious books and Bibles are being handled.

“Our members who have shipments of general interest books have not yet had their goods released to them,” she said. “More talks between operators in the trade and the appropriate government department are planned. We hope that talks will result in the tariff being rolled back and no longer applied.”

In the meantime, the association advises that Christian books and Bibles should be shipped separately from educational and general interest books.

Tyndale House Publishers is hopeful that his company’s trade accounts will not be affected by the substantial tariff.

“Should the tariff be instituted, it would be a serious barrier to those in Nigeria who are to benefit most from the industry’s books and Bibles,” said James Elwell, Tyndale’s director of international publishing.

Rick Heyer, international sales manager for Charisma House, also does business with Nigerian customers.

“We will see if the tariffs will affect the buying from Nigeria at ICRS,” Heyer said. “They usually buy twice a year from us. So far I have seen an increase, not a decrease in buying from Nigeria.” —Deonne Lindsey

Kevin Max is striking out on his own to launch a solo career once again. After nearly two years and over 150 shows, Audio Adrenaline has announced that Max is stepping down as the band’s lead singer. Josh Engler, formerly of the band Abandon, will become the group’s new lead vocalist.

Max, bass player Will McGinniss, drummer Jared Byers and guitarist Dwayne Larring composed Audio Adrenaline, and together, their efforts continued to share Audio A’s foundation, Hands & Feet Project, which was started by the band’s original lead singer, Mark Stuart, McGinniss and former bandmate Bob Herdman. The foundation is caring for “the least of these” in Haiti.

Customer shopping habits, distributor duplication named as significant factors in changing environment

// CANADA

Canada’s Christian retail landscape is experiencing a sea change. In the first six months of 2014, three major retailers in three large cities have closed or announced their plans to do so: Hull’s in Winnipeg, Manitoba, after 97 years in business; Speelman’s in Toronto after 52 years; and Cameron’s in Windsor, Ontario, after 52 years.

The latest casualty, Cameron’s, was to close its doors June 14. The store was founded in 1962 in the basement of Glen and Dorothy Cameron’s home.

“While we still consider the products that we sell to be life-shaping, the ‘local Christian bookstore’ is no longer the primary place to purchase them,” said Stuart Cameron, son of the store’s founders.

Hull’s Family Bookstore shuttered two of its three stores in March. A 50% drop in customers prompted the Winnipeg store to close in March, one month after its Thunder Bay, Ontario, location closed. The Steinbach, Manitoba, store remains open.

“Over the last 10 to 15 years, the evolution of digital technology has produced profound changes in the bookselling environment,” said a letter to Hull’s customers. “Today, there are many options available in terms of where and how books are purchased and even how they are read. Bricks-and-mortar stores contend with showrooming. All of retail is grappling with global competition. The largest online booksellers are fast and efficient, and prices are often below our cost.”

Hull’s remains optimistic that its “right-sized” location will re-emerge in the future.

In February, the closure of Speelman’s Book House represents the end of a retail and a wholesale remainder business. A third stream that involves wholesaling Dutch-themed gifts, books and music will continue to operate.

These closures are not isolated, said Mark Hutchinson, president of the Blessings chain. “The key thing that retailers must focus on in Canada today is streamlining and wherever possible, looking to vertically integrate.”

He noted that one challenge is that there are too many distributors serving a niche market.
“There is far too much duplication which leads to additional costs being born by the retailer,” Hutchinson said.

“Publishers can help Canadian retailers by feeding them the latest information on their products so they can buy wisely and give their Canadian distributors good margins so they can pass those on to stores,” said Lando Klassen, owner of House of James in Abbotsford, British Columbia.

Although approximately 40 stores have closed in the last six years, some diversifying their product mix are finding success, Klassen said. For instance, Verses in Lloydminster, Alberta, has become the number-one Canadian outlet for Duck Commander merchandise. Christian Book and Music Center in Victoria reduced its rent by moving to a smaller location and added a coffee bar and clearance center. Faith Family Books & Gifts in Scarborough, Ontario, added a women’s clothing boutique to its 10,000-square-foot store.

At the House of James, Klassen has increased sales by offering a used book center, general gifts, live music on the weekends, a coffee bar with an expanded menu and a summer reading club for kids.  

“Sometimes I do feel like I’m running a circus though, doing all these extra things just because I still want to keep selling Christian books and Bibles,” Klassen said.  —Rhonda Sholar

Hillsong Church recently announced that this year's live worship album will release under the name Hillsong Worship rather than Hillsong Live. Hillsong Worship continues to resource the local church with songs that coming out of the church’s congregations worldwide.

Hillsong Worship will release No Other Name on July 1, coinciding with its annual Hillsong Conference in Sydney, Australia.