Mardel Christian & Education has named John Nardini the chain’s new president. Having assumed his new post Aug. 19, Nardini brings a breadth of knowledge and expertise from more than 20 years in the Christian and retail industries.

Mart Green, owner and CEO of Mardel, is “delighted” to see Nardini at the helm.

“He comes with a lot of passion and dedication to the Christian retail industry and is known as a thoughtful leader, recognized for his ability to prioritize opportunities for growth and direct strategic business initiatives,” Green said.

Independent Christian retailers and church bookstore managers soon will come together for this month’s Christian Product Expo (CPE) in Murfreesboro, Tenn.

Hosted by the Munce Group, the Sept. 22-24 event at the Embassy Suites features a Bible conference, retail training, multiple tracks of workshops and roundtable discussions, artist and author showcases, and hours of buying time on the show floor.

NavPress and Tyndale House Publishers jointly announced Sept. 11 a new publishing alliance to grow the influence and impact of the NavPress brand. Plans are underway to increase the global distribution of the NavPress backlist and expand opportunities for new NavPress books and Bibles.

NavPress will continue to operate as the fully owned publishing arm of The Navigators, a worldwide ministry headquartered in Colorado Springs, Colo. Tyndale is coming alongside NavPress to bring efficiencies of scale to the publishing process, including manufacturing, warehousing, selling, marketing and fulfillment.

Family Christian Stores presented its four Vendor Awards last month at its annual company update in Grand Rapids, Mich. Family recognized four vendors in the categories of Partnership, Business Innovation, Ministry Impact and Supplier of the Year.

The recipients of the 2013 awards were Capitol Christian Distribution (Partnership); New Day Christian Distributors (Business Innovation); Fair Trade Services (Ministry Impact); and Dicksons (Supplier of the Year).

Russ Doughten Films will be closing its doors Sept. 15, according to a company representative.

Lee Hough, literary agent and vice president at Alive Communications, died Sept. 10 after a two-year battle with brain cancer. He was 58.

Hough’s influence was widely felt in the industry.  He was the recipient of the first-ever Christy Lifetime Achievement Award at the International Christian Retail Show in June.

U.S. District Judge Denise Cote—whose ruled in July that Apple was guilty of conspiring to fix e-book prices with five major publishers—issued her injunction on the company Sept. 6. The injunction was narrower in scope than the original recommendations from the U.S. Justice Department, as Cote had said in her initial comments on those recommendations that she wanted to make the judgment “rest as lightly as possible on how Apple runs its business.”

As expected, Cote’s injunction not only limits its agreements with the publishers, but it also requires an external monitor to review Apple’s antitrust compliance policies and procedures for two years.