Christian products industry friends and colleagues are expressing sadness at the death of longtime Spring Arbor Distributors sales representative Eric Fields. Fields, 62, died July 13 in Cordova, Tenn.

The month's sales for religious books rose 8.2% to $40.1 million, and sales were up by 2.6% for the year. Sales of religious books also rose in April and March. Previously, other than a small increase in December, the religious books category had been on a steady decline since January 2009.

CBA Executive Director Curtis Riskey is closing his own store four months after taking on the leadership of the retailers' association.

The difficulties in running the business from a distance--BASIC (Brothers and Sisters in Christ) Books and Cafe is in Oshkosh, Wis., while Riskey is based in Colorado Springs, Colo., where CBA is headquartered--were cited for the decision, announced this week.

Publishing and retail leaders are working on an industry-wide platform for delivering e-books to Christian stores, to help them compete in the growing digital market.

An industry task force being facilitated by CBA includes representatives of leading stores and marketing groups, publishers and point-of-sale service providers.

Running through Labor Day, Sept. 6, the show is hosted by Christian Retailing magazine, aiming to help stores set themselves for the fall and Christmas seasons with product news, order specials and training. It is the magazine's fourth virtual trade event since debuting the innovative program following last year's ICRS.