Prestonwood Bookstore is hosting best-selling novelist Francine Rivers and other Tyndale House authors this month at an exclusive event.

Rivers will speak at the two-hour evening event, “Transformed Through Story: An Evening with Francine Rivers & Friends,” will be held Friday, Sept. 18. The event is designed to give fiction fans a chance to interact with Rivers, known for her many books, including Redeeming Love and Bridge to Haven, and other Tyndale authors, Janice Cantore, DiAnn Mills, Eva Marie Everson, Allison Pittman, Pam Hillman, Courtney Walsh and Candace Calvert.

Mardel and Hobby Lobby will move into an abandoned Kmart facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma, according to a
Sept. 5 Tulsa World report.

Mardel will use 25,000 square feet of the 85,000-square-foot building; the remaining 60,000 square feet will be occupied by one of its sister company's craft stores.

Christian retailers from The Parable Group report that customers are buzzing about the new Bible journaling trend. Combining faith and art, the trend encourages creatively decorating the pages of a Bible to visually document the reader's spiritual journey.

Jody Landon, assistant manager and gift buyer for Parable Christian Store in San Luis Obispo, California, said that Bible journaling products are attracting many customers.

“We have Bible journaling products positioned right by our front door, and customer interest is piqued," said Landon. "Recently, we had a customer drive over an hour to our store to buy two ESV Journaling Bibles (Crossway) and a $120 deluxe Bible journaling kit. They were to be gifts to give to her twin daughters so they could begin journaling."

Lorraine Valk, owner of Parable Christian Store in St. Joseph, Michigan, was excited about this new type of product.

“We have anxiously been awaiting the new journaling Bibles since we've been having requests for them," Valk said. "As a scrapbooker, I've been excited to see the new journaling products arrive, seeing the potential this has for yet another way to experience the Word of God.”

Most publishers who print journaling Bibles sold out this spring. Two vendors at the International Christian Retail Show offered Bible journaling products: GT Luscombe and Illustrated Faith by Bella Blvd. GT Luscombe has Bible journaling art supplies such as pens, markers, stamps/ink pads, watercolors and paints. Bella Blvd has paper products such as stickers, labels and tip-ins.

Bible journaling has become popular on social media in the past year. Many women’s Bible studies have sprung up around the practice as a unique and creative way to interact with and memorize God’s Word.

Jeff Bruenning, merchandising and marketing manager at The Parable Group, said that Bible journaling could present new opportunities for retailers to engage their customers.

“This is an opportunity for Christian retailers to not only sell the Bibles and supplies for journaling, but engage with customers by providing in-store workshops and journaling Bible studies,” said Bruenning.

Landon has that exact plan for her local journaling community.

“We are gathering names of Bible journaling customers so we can invite them to a workshop event we are planning," said Landon.

Marilyn Hood, owner of Sweet Spirit in Marietta, Georgia, was similarly enthusiastic.

“I love the journaling trend," Hood said. "Our granddaughter also really enjoys it and will be hosting an event for us as soon as we get adequate stock of the ESV Journaling Bible. I guess there has been a run on them due to the online explosion of interest! It’s a great problem to have as this trend is getting people to spend time in the Word!”

The Parable Group is highlighting this trend on its fall catalog and providing its stores with related marketing tools.

Greg Gudorf is joining Pure Flix Digital as CEO. Gudorf is a senior technology/marketing executive with past success at Technicolor, DreamWorks Animation, Diego and Sony Electronics.

Gudorf will be responsible for directing and driving the anticipated growth of the new pureflix.com subscription video-on-demand (SVOD) service. The service will take advantage of the rising number of streaming video households in North America; the number of households is expected to reach 76.5 million by 2020, according to a Digital TV Research forecast.

Church Bookstore Manager Martha Brangenberg is leaving Charis Christian Books & Gifts to serve business owners alongside her husband, Jim. The store at First Baptist Church of Indian Rocks in Largo, Florida, remains in operation under the care of JoAnn Reagh as acting manager.

Reagh worked part-time at the store for three years some time ago, then later was assistant manager for more than two years. She has spent her career working in an office setting and in fast food retail.

May was not the most hopeful month for religious presses with book sales dropped more than 13 percent, according the Association of American Publishers (AAP). For the year to date, religious publishers suffered a 10.3 percent decline in all formats with sales of $204.9 million compared to $228.5 million in January-May 2014.

Religious e-book sales dropped like a rock in May. Compared to last May, sales were down 55.3 percent. For the year to date, they were down 4.2 percent compared to the same five-month period last year.

New Day Christian Distributors announced Wednesday a new partnership with Christian apparel company Kerusso.

The partnership will allow New Day to broaden its reach in the apparel category by offering Kerusso’s extensive line of T-shirts, gifts and jewelry to its independent store base.