Christian Retailing

B&H Español takes top book, publisher honors Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Monday, 06 May 2013 01:00 AM America/New_York

LaResolucionParaHombres-WebB&H Español, B&H Publishing Group's Spanish division, won two major categories last night during the 2012 Spanish Evangelical Products Association (SEPA) Awards. The banquet event concluded the Spanish-language Christian trade show Expolit, held May 2-5 at the Doubletree Hotel & Miami Airport Convention Center in Miami.

B&H Español was honored with the Harold Kregel Award for Book of the Year 2012 for La Resolución Para Hombres (The Resolution for Men) by Stephen and Alex Kendrick with Randy Alcorn. B&H Español was also named the Publisher of the Year.

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CTAI announces 2013 Korea Christian Rights Fair Print Email
Written by Christine D. Johnson   
Friday, 03 May 2013 03:02 PM America/New_York

KimPettit-WebChristian Trade Association International (CTAI) will stage its annual Korea Christian Rights Fair in Seoul, South Korea, prior to the Beijing International Book Fair in August.

“I am pleased to recommend the Korea Christian Rights Fair to our members worldwide,” said Kim Pettit, CTAI executive director. “This annual event offers a great opportunity to present your titles to editors at the leading publishing houses in one of the world’s most active licensing markets, whether or not you can travel to Seoul.”

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April employment up, hours worked down Print Email
Written by Christine D. Johnson   
Friday, 03 May 2013 05:39 PM America/New_York

MatthewShay-NRF-WebThe stock market responded favorably today to an April jobs report that saw unemployment drop to 7.5%. The monthly numbers show that 165,000 jobs were created.

The National Retail Federation (NRF) responded positively to the report.

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Nominees announced for fan-voted Christian music awards Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Friday, 03 May 2013 01:00 AM America/New_York

TobyMac and Newsboys have received three nominations each for the first fan-voted awards show in Christian music history. The K-LOVE Fan Awards show will be held June 1 at the historic Ryman Auditorium in Nashville.

Fans can vote through May 31 for nominees at www.klovefanawards.com or on Facebook in categories "celebrating artists, athletes, authors and entertainers who, with excellence, engage and impact popular culture for Jesus Christ," organizers said.

TobyMac garnered nominations for "Me Without You" for Song of the Year, Male Artist of the Year and Artist of the Year. Newsboys also received nominations for "God's Not Dead (Like a Lion)" for Song of the Year and Artist of the Year, as well as Group/Duo of the Year.

Other Song of the Year nominees were "Redeemed" by Big Daddy Weave; "Where I Belong" by Building 429; "10,000 Reasons" by Matt Redman; and "Whom Shall I Fear" by Chris Tomlin.

Along with TobyMac, Brandon Heath, Jeremy Camp, Matthew West and received Tomlin nominations for Male Artist of the Year. Female Male Artist of the Year nominations went to Francesca Battistelli, Kari Jobe, Laura Story, Mandisa? and Natalie Grant.

Along with Newsboys, Group/Duo of the Year nominees included Casting Crowns, MercyMe?, Tenth Avenue North and Third Day. Breakthrough Artist of the Year nominations went to Building 429?, Laura Story,? For King & Country, Sidewalk Prophets and Plumb. In addition to TobyMac and Newsboys, Casting Crowns, MercyMe? and Third Day received nominations for Artist of the Year.

In the Movie Impact category, the nominees were Courageous (Alex Kendrick); The Grace Card (David Evans); October Baby (Jon Erwin); and Monumental (Kirk Cameron). Book Impact nominees will be announced at a later date. There will also be a Sports Impact Award.

The award show, part of The Ultimate Fan Experience: K-LOVE Fan Awards, to be held May 31-June 2 in Nashville, will be hosted by Phil and Kay Robertson and Jase and Missy Robertson, stars of A&E TV's popular show Duck Dynasty.

Nominees were determined by K-LOVE with consideration given to airplay, spins, impact and overall performance. K-LOVE is a leading Christian radio network with a weekly audience of more than 13 million listeners.

Visit http://www.klovefanawards.com/nominees for a complete list of nominees.

 
'Duck Commander Family' reaches sales milestone Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Friday, 03 May 2013 01:00 AM America/New_York

The Duck Commander Family (Howard Books) has reached a milestone with more than 500,000 copies in print. The book is tied to A&E TV's popular reality show Duck Dynasty.

Duck Dynasty's season finale drew a record 9.6 million viewers during its one-hour episode last week, topping all of broadcast and cable shows targeting the 18-49 age demographic for the night of April 24, The Hollywood Reporter reported. The show features the Robertson family, who transformed their home-grown, duck-call business in Louisiana into a multimillion-dollar sporting empire, while staying grounded in faith and family values.

Released in October 2012, The Duck Commander Family was written by Willie Robertson, who serves as CEO of Duck Commander and Buck Commander, and his wife, Korie—daughter of former Howard Books Publisher John Howard, who also now works at the company. On May 7, Howard Books plans to release Duck Commander founder Phil Robertson's Happy, Happy, Happy.

Howard Books announced earlier this month a multi-book deal with the Robertson family, including books from Si Robertson, Kay Robertson and a Duck Commander devotional—all scheduled to come out this fall.

Teresia Osborne, manager of The Salt Cellar in Lawton, Okla., told Christian Retailing that there is "lots of interest" in Duck Commander/Duck Dynasty products at her store.

"Customers respond well to Duck Dynasty products," she said. "We expect the products to do well for the rest of 2013."

To read the Duck Commander cover story in the May issue of Christian Retailing, visit

https://www.christianretailing.com/index.php/news/industry-news/25508-duck-commander-launches-in-christian-retail.

 
'Odyssey' contest partners with Christian retailers Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Friday, 03 May 2013 01:00 AM America/New_York

For the second year in a row, "Adventures in Odyssey (AIO)," Focus on the Family's kids' radio drama, is joining forces with Christian bookstores across the country.

Starting in June, the A.C.T.S.! Summer of Service Challenge, which also features the partnership of Tyndale House Publishers and Good Goers, will encourage children to complete 12 hours of service this summer—on their own, with their family or church.

Service logs will be available in more than 400 stores. Children who participate can download a free AIO episode, and kids can also return to stores to collect stickers of favorite Odyssey characters for each hour served.

Organizers hope that the challenge will help children learn the value of giving their time, talents and abilities to help people in need.

"We want to remind kids that they have a part to play in God's story, and serving is an easy way for everyone to take part in that," said Jesse Florea, editor of Focus' Clubhouse magazine, AIO's official publication. "The challenge is a fun way for kids to learn about serving, but the end goal is that kids will deepen their walk with Jesus Christ through serving Him."

During the July 1-Aug. 16 period, children (ages 8-15) can also enter the A.C.T.S.! video contest by submitting a two-minute video, detailing how they served and why they would like to be one of the first official AIO Ambassadors. Many stores will host special recording events, and children who record their video in stores will receive an AIO prize.

From the videos received, 100 third place winners will be selected to win a $25 AIO product prize. Of those, 24 finalists (12 boys and 12 girls) will have their videos posted for online voting from Sept. 1-15, and two grand prize winners (one boy and one girl) will be announced Sept. 25 through an AIO webcast. The grand prize winners will receive an all-expense paid Good Goers adventure-based mission trip with a parent to serve orphans and spend a day of rafting in an overseas location.

Organizers hope 4,200 children will sign up to serve for a total of 50,000 hours of service. AIO is kicking off the campaign via a live launch party webcast at 5:30 p.m. EST, May 22, and will provide details on the contest's grand prize trip location. Viewers can watch the webcast online at whitsend.org/acts. For more information or to register, visit whitsendblog.org/acts/.

In 2012, more than 350 Christian bookstores nationwide encouraged AIO fans to submit videotaped auditions this summer for the "Get in the Show" contest—marking the 25th anniversary of the program.

 
'The Light and the Glory' author David Manuel dies Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Thursday, 02 May 2013 10:17 AM America/New_York

David Manuel, co-author of the 1980 U.S. history classic The Light and the Glory (Revell/Baker Publishing Group), died April 25 at his Tulsa, Okla., home, according to his wife, Shelli. He was 76.

A graduate of Yale University, Manuel's writings on history and the Bible have been used by many Christian leaders and educators. Manuel co-wrote The Light and the Glory, about America's Christian heritage, with Peter Marshall, with whom he co-authored another best-seller, From Sea to Shining Sea (Revell/Baker Publishing). His more than 20 books also included Like a Mighty River (Rock Harbor Publishing); The Jesus Factor (Logos International); and Once Upon a Prayer (McDougal Publishing).

Manuel worked for a division of Doubleday for eight years. He also founded Awakening Books, was co-founder of Logos Publishing and founder of Rock Harbor Publishing. For his literary achievements, Manuel was knighted in 2009 on the Queen Mary in the oldest European order of Constantine. A graduate of the Screen Writing Academy of Movieguide, Manuel was working on a last project about George Washington.

Before becoming an author, he also served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Naval Air Force, where he logged 2,600 hours of flight time on patrols and stopped a Russian war maneuver.

Manuel is survived by his wife; daughter, Blair; four granddaughters; a sister; and a brother. His funeral will be held Saturday, May 4, at Victory Christian Center in Tulsa, with military honors, and he will be buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Va.

Another memorial service will be held for Manuel later this month at the New Testament Church in Plymouth, Mass., and there will be a May 30 memorial reception for him in Washington, D.C., at the National Press Club.

 
Mother's Day spending increase projected for 2013 Print Email
Written by Eric Tiansay   
Thursday, 02 May 2013 01:00 AM America/New_York

National Retail Federation's 2013 Mother's Day spending survey, conducted by BIGinsight, found the average person will spend $168.94 on Mother's Day gifts this year, up 11% from last year's $152.52. Total spending is expected to reach $20.7 billion.

"Budgetary constraints will keep many families on the lookout for the perfect group gift, like a new tablet or smartphone, or even that cashmere sweater they know mom has had her eye on," said BIGinsight Consumer Insights Director Pam Goodfellow.

The survey found 14.1% of shoppers—the highest in its history—will spend more than $2.3 billion for Mother's Day (Sunday, May 12) on electronics, up from $1.6 billion last year.

Additionally, more than one-third (34.4%) of gift givers will buy jewelry, spending a total of $4.2 billion—up from $3.7 billion last year—on necklaces, bracelets and more.

Others will spending $3.5 billion at restaurants, $2.3 billion on flowers, $2 billion on gift cards, $1.7 billion on clothing or clothing accessories and $1.5 billion on some type of personal service such as a spa day.

The survey found 34.4% will head to department stores, while specialty stores such as jewelers, florists and electronics stores will see the most traffic (36.6%). Others will shop at a discount store (29.1%), online (28.5%, the highest in the survey's 10-year history) or specialty clothing store (8.9%).

Of those Americans celebrating the holiday this year, most will focus on buying a gift for their mother or stepmother (65.2%) or wife (23.6%). Others will treat their daughter (10.5%), grandmother (8.5%) or sister (8.2%) to something nice.

A CreditDonkey survey of more than 800 Americans found that respondents plan to spend an average of $61.56 this year on the holiday.

The survey also revealed that sons plan to spend more on Mother's Day, while daughters expect to spend less than they did last year. Nearly 1 in 4 son respondents said they plan to increase their Mother's Day budget, while the same number of daughter respondents said they would spend less.

Despite these differences in buying habits and expectations, the majority in both categories show they will likely spend the same amount as they did in 2012.

Of note was the response regarding greeting cards, often a staple for Mother's Day. More daughters said they want to give a greeting card than sons (31% of daughters compared to 28% of sons). Of 100 moms surveyed, 32% wanted to receive a greeting card.

Among the gifts moms said they wanted to receive were something homemade (36%), dinner (35%), gift cards (25%) and flowers (23%). Of particular interest to Christian retail stores were the following categories: jewelry (11%); books (10%); music (6%); and movies (6%).

CreditDonkey.com surveyed 1,062 Americans, age 18 and up April 1-10, and 81% of them plan to celebrate Mother's Day.