Solid health category builds on consumer interest in 'facts not fads'

Dwight Gullion is a firm believer in the adage that "prevention is better than cure," which is why health and fitness books are a staple at his small independent chain of Christian bookstores in the Southeast.

The president and co-owner of Gullion's Christian Supply Center—with four locations in the Winston-Salem, N.C., area—Gullion has offered hundreds of health-related titles since first selling Christian books in a flea market booth in 1992.

But he is not the only one pumped up about health and fitness books. Christian publishers and retailers say the category is on the rise with more people looking for help to stay in shape or take care of their bodies from a biblical point of view.

"We've also been selling health supplements and such since pretty well the beginning," Guillion told Christian Retailing. "It was a personal interest of our family, and is driven by the biblical concept of stewardship of all that God entrusts us with—including our physical health."

Gullion said his stores' health section—called the Health Depot—has helped his businesses "to do more than just a vanilla Christian bookstore."

"The Health Depot varies between the stores, but our (largest) store has eight linear feet of books and videos, with an additional 40 linear feet of supplements, herbs, foods and equipment," he added. "The Health Depot has gradually increased ... in keeping with the obvious need for diversification."

People are looking for inspiration and encouragement from those "who have 'been there and done that,' offering hope from their stories," Gospel Light Vice President for Sales and Marketing Bob Bever told Christian Retailing. "The health and fitness category is growing, but the ability to tie people into groups that approach this from a spiritual as well as physical perspective is the key to not just marketing the product but seeing true success in people's lives."

The Ventura, Calif.-based company has had success with several health-themed titles, including the late Rex Russell's What the Bible Says About Healthy Living—which has sold more than 185,000 copies since 1996. Additionally, Gospel Light has sold more than a million copies of the "First Place 4 Health" books and Bible studies since the resources were introduced in 2001, Bever said.

The company will also release three titles from the "First Place 4 Health" series by December 2009, including God's Purpose for You Bible study, as well as Give God a Year, Change Your Life Forever—a hardcover by Carole Lewis to come out in November. The "Give God a Year, Change Your Life Forever Kit" releases in December. Additionally, Gospel Light plans to publish in November Bod 4 God by Virginia pastor Steve Reynolds, released by Pleasant Word/WinePress Publishing in 2007.

"Balanced healthy living leading to weight loss and spiritual health continues to be important for many Christians desiring to honor God with every area of their lives," Bever said. "It additionally provides churches with a great way to reach out to their community with answers for the challenges of life so many are facing today and looking for help."

He added that retailers "need to understand that people are looking for answers that work and are not 'faddish.' "

"Consumers are smart and know the difference between emotional hypes and true wholeness approaches, which include a commitment to spiritual health and growth," Bever said. "With 'First Place 4 Health,' retailers have the opportunity to resource thousands of people who are part of 'First Place 4 Health' in thousands of groups across the country."

Siloam—an imprint of Strang Communications, Christian Retailing's parent company—is the leader in the Christian health and fitness genre, with several best-sellers. First published in 1999, Don Colbert's "The Bible Cure" series have sold 3 million copies in English as well as another 300,000 in Spanish and other languages.

Colbert's Eat This And Live! (Siloam, 2008) and The Seven Pillars of Health (Siloam, 2007) have sold 125,000 and 335,000 copies, respectively, while Jentezen Franklin's Fasting (Charisma House/Strang Book Group, 2008) has sold 287,000 copies. Fasting and Jordan Rubin's The Maker's Diet (Siloam, 2004) all made the New York Times best-sellers list.

"We continue to see steady and consistent sales flowing through our partnerships with Christian retailers," said Woodley Auguste, senior publicist for Strang Communications.

Siloam released Franklin's The Fasting Kit, which includes a DVD for small group use, study guide, journal and the Fasting book, this month and will bring out Live It Not Diet—the working title for Colbert's new book—in January.

An imprint of Hachette Book Group USA, Center Street scored a hit with Elisabeth Hasselbeck's The G-Free Diet: A Gluten-Free Survival Guide. Released May 4, the book debuted at No. 2 on the New York Times Hardcover Advice best-seller list and has about 140,000 copies in print with nine printings. Center Street will release Denise's Daily Dozen: The Easy, Every Day Program to Lose Up to 12 Pounds in 2 Weeks by Denise Austin in January with an initial print run of 75,000 copies.

"There is always a market for sound, reputable health and wellness books from a Christian perspective," Pamela Clements, associate publisher of marketing for Center Street, said. "The importance of mind, body and spirit integration has been proven over and over again, and Christ-centered books can make a significant difference in readers' lives.

"I think merchandising is key," she added. "While this may be a targeted purchase, it is very possible that well-placed, topical books that address shoppers felt needs will attract interest."

Gullion of Gullion's Christian Supply said "being knowledgeable never hurts."

"People often need someone to talk to about their health struggles, so just taking an interest in your customers' well-being helps sales as well," added Gullion, whose top sellers include Siloam titles from Rubin and Colbert.

Lorraine Valk—who owns Banner Books Parable Christian Store of St.
Joseph, Mich., with her husband, Jim—carries 50 titles, devoting three, 4-foot shelves to the category.

"It feels like it has been on a slight increase this past six months," she said. "I think with health insurance, or lack thereof, people are being a little more aware of what they should be doing."

Valk's best-sellers include Rubin's The Great Physician's Rx for Health & Wellness (2006) and Arthur and Judy Halliday's Thin Within (2005)—both published by Thomas Nelson— Colbert's The Seven Pillars of Health and Henry Wright's A More Excellent Way (Whitaker House, 2009).

"I make sure (the titles) are visible and marketed properly," she said. "People love being able to get quality books from doctors that have God's plan in mind when dishing out advice."

Karen Grosse, owner of Lighthouse Christian Books in Green Bay, Wis., agreed.

"The key to selling these books is having enough variety," she said. "It is important to have at least one or two different books to offer to someone who comes in looking for specific health issues.

"Over the years, we have tried to sell small books on calorie counting, eating out and other similar books," she added. "Since these are now available at nearly every checkout counter from grocery stores to discount stores, we have not been carrying many of them. We try to carry books with a Christian view of weight loss or health management."

Grosse's store carries approximately 120 different titles in the genre, including top sellers such as Colbert's "The Bible Cure" series, Rubin's The Maker's Diet and the "First Place 4 Health" books and Bible studies.

"Our section has increased slightly over the years as new titles come out," she said. "The books in this section tend to continue to sell longer than many of the titles in other departments, and are more timeless in nature, so they have a longer shelf life. While the old 80/20 rule applies here—and 80% of our sales come from 20% of the books—if you don't have the entire selection, you will not sell many."

Paul Glenn, book department buyer for the Potomac Adventist Book & Health Food Store in Silver Spring, Md., told Christian Retailing that his shop carries approximately 600 books in the category, with best-sellers featuring "The Bible Cure" series and Franklin's Fasting.

Potomac periodically moves its health and fitness titles around, and the store "runs specials on a continuous basis and that helps customers appreciate what we have to offer," Glenn said.

"Many people are getting more interested in healthy living," he said. "It definitely helps being in a Christian bookstore since we believe that our bodies are the temple of God. For us, since we also handle health foods, it is a perfect tie in. Of course health and fitness is really more than the 'health books.' We should probably count the entire Bible section since the Bible has a lot to say about health and fitness.

But husband, Ted, ‘not yet comfortable' with writing a book on moral failure that led to downfall

Tyndale House Publishers is to publish a memoir by Gayle Haggard, wife of the former president of the National Association of Evangelicals and well-known author, Ted Haggard.

In Why I Stayed, to be released in January 2010, she will share "a message of forgiveness and love" regarding her husband, also the founder and ex-senior pastor of New Life Church in Colorado Springs, Colo.—whose confession to sexual immorality in November 2006 led to his downfall, Tyndale officials said.

"This is my story of choosing to love my husband through some of the most difficult challenges any marriage could face," Gayle Haggard said in a statement.

Her husband currently has no plans to write a book on his experience. "I have not signed nor am I talking with any publishers about any upcoming books by me," he told Christian Retailing. "I have not been comfortable yet with writing a book. So because of that, I haven't accepted any of the offers regarding a book contract. Instead, Gayle and I are traveling and speaking every other weekend, which is a very nice pace for us."

Haggard, who recently returned to the spotlight after two years of seclusion, said he was not aware that his previous books had been pulled by Christian bookstores.

"I was isolated, so I didn't know they were pulled but that does make sense to me," he said. "I've been so busy (that) I've not had discussions with anyone in the marketplace about my old books except readers who comment on them."

After reading the Why I Stayed manuscript, Tyndale President Mark Taylor said he "was very moved by Gayle's story. It is a beautiful—though heart-wrenching—story of how (with the grace of God) she chose to love Ted, save her marriage and protect her family."

Jon Farrar, Tyndale's nonfiction acquisition director, added: "When we met with Gayle, we realized God was already using her story to touch the lives of thousands of people. We knew this story needed to be heard in its entirety. It's an amazing story of the choices Gayle made in her darkest hours and how less-than-perfect people everywhere desperately need a community that provides healing and a path to restoration."

Tyndale will launch Why I Stayed, co-written by Angela Hunt, with a national promotional campaign, including an author tour.

The Haggards have recently been guests on numerous TV shows and cable programs. An HBO documentary titled The Trials of Ted Haggard has aired 40 times.

The couple—who currently live in Colorado Springs with two of their five children—have been married for more than 30 years.

Chain switches to commercial system to improve efficiency

The nation's largest Christian retail chain has converted its e-mail platform in order to better serve customers.

Family Christian Stores recently standardized all of its marketing and transactional e-mail on StrongMail Systems' commercial-grade e-mail platform.

Family Christian previously relied on an e-mail service provider, but switched to StrongMail to improve the relevancy, reliability and cost of its e-mail campaigns, company officials said.

In addition to its 300 stores, the chain also sells products and church supplies through its Web site. To keep its customers informed, Family Christian relies heavily on e-mail, resulting in multiple campaigns and millions of e-mails sent each month.

"With StrongMail, we now have the control and data integration necessary to respond quickly to market changes with personalized messages that drive results and customer satisfaction," said Keith Watkins, chief information officer of Family Christian Stores. "By offering us a complete solution at the right value, StrongMail will enable us to deliver more relevant and cost effective e-mail communications across our multi channel environment."

With the new e-mail platform, Family will be able to better handle customer data and control the timing of the chain's e-mails.

Redwood City, Calif.-based StrongMail's clients include eHarmony, FoxSports.com and Ticketmaster.

Cooperative ventures heralded for bringing industry together

Industry leaders are praising new alliances within the Christian product world as several companies have joined forces to reach untapped markets and minimize the impact of the economic downturn.

"It's wonderful to see more companies working in partnership," CBA President and CEO Bill Anderson told Christian Retailing. "This is true of retailers working cooperatively with other retailers as well as suppliers working with other suppliers. This is the way the body of Christ should work together."

Munce Group Chief Operating Officer Kirk Blank agreed. "I think that anytime efficiencies can be enjoyed and goals (are met) to maximize efforts, it's a great situation," he told Christian Retailing. "In this economic climate, these types of alliances are getting more attention and I believe we'll see more."

Thomas Nelson recently signed a nonexclusive distribution agreement with Standard Publishing to represent its adult and children's small group studies and children's church resources. The partnership allows Standard Publishing's direct-to-church and telephone sales teams to present select Thomas Nelson titles to the churches they serve.

"I am very excited about this partnership," said Wayne Hastings, senior vice president and group publisher of Thomas Nelson's Bible Group. "Standard has a long tradition of serving churches across the country with integrity and service, and we're honored to have their team come alongside us and represent Thomas Nelson's life-changing small group and church resources."

Larry Carpenter, president and publisher of Standard Publishing, said he was glad for the vote of confidence. "Because of our position as one of the leading publishers of Vacation Bible School programs and church curriculum products, Standard is very effective at creating awareness of our products at the church level," he said. "We are proud that Thomas Nelson has recognized our capabilities and given us the opportunity to sell their God-honoring products in to the churches with which we work."

Nelson also recently forged a partnership with NavPress to deliver each company's content to new markets. A ministry of The Navigators, NavPress began distributing select Nelson products to the direct-to-church and direct-to-consumer audiences, while Thomas Nelson will introduce NavPress resources to the trade market.

Nelson's Bible study titles carried by NavPress include the Max Lucado DVD-based 3:16 and Come Thirsty, as well as Liquid products by John Ward and Jeff Pries. Other Nelson titles carried by NavPress include the "Fruit of the Spirit" series by Calvin Miller, the "Life Principles Study Series" by Charles Stanley and the "MacArthur Old Testament Study Guides" by John MacArthur.

"We feel the relationship between NavPress and Thomas Nelson enhances both organizations' presence to these distinct audiences and will result in a broader distribution of kingdom resources," said Jessica Chappell, NavPress' vice president of business development. "The Navigators have a phenomenal foundation of biblical scholarship that will be reaching the audience at an entirely new level."

An agreement between the two companies is being finalized for Nelson to sellNavPress' "The Navigators Reference Library," which includes The Complete Book of Discipleship by Bill Hull, Dictionary of Everyday Theology and Culture by Bruce Demarest and Keith Matthews (January 2010) and Handbook for Personal Bible Study by William Klein.

Meanwhile, Legacy Publishing Group (LPG) recently contracted with Dicksons for sales representation for their stationery and gift items. The new partnership applies to key accounts only. The Dicksons key account sales team began offering LPG product in July.

"Through the shared efforts, ideas and ingenuity of Legacy and Dicksons, we can provide better and more personal service to our key retail partners in the Christian retail channel, ensuring a more prosperous future for all concerned," said Timothy Cross, vice president of sales and contracts at Legacy.

Steve Vandivier, CEO and president of Dicksons, added: "This is a strategic alliance that will not only allow Dicksons to enhance our ongoing commitment to bring quality products to our retail partners, but will also help us strengthen our relationship with those retailers."

Anderson said CBA has been spearheading the push for alliances through Christian retail channel exclusives such as the successful Operation Worship Bible campaign.

"I've been very pleased with the enthusiastic response from several suppliers wanting to help create product and programs unique to Christian retail to help drive traffic and sales," he said. "I don't think (the new alliances are) driven only by the economic pressures we're all experiencing, but also simply by the desire to work together better. That's good for the industry, and pleasing to the Father."

A Christian remainder house based in the Midwest has opened a permanent showroom in New York City to meet growing demand.

Touted as the world's largest distributor of discount Christian media, Wholesale Christian Books (WCB) launched its 600-square-foot showroom in May, featuring approximately 2,000 titles.

"We decided to open a showroom in New York because many of our current and prospective customers travel there to buy books on a regular basis," Jerry Bloom, president of the Racine, Wisc.-based company, told Christian Retailing.

In operation for about three years, WCB's Racine facility has more than 50,000 square feet. With an inventory of more than a million books, the company carries 13,000-plus titles from more than two-dozen Christian publishers.

"We sell to everyone from independent Christian bookstore start-ups to Amazon.com,” Bloom said. "Most recently, we (began) partnering with nontraditional book retailers like Ross, DD's Discounts and Citi Trends."

He added that the secular non-book companies were "doing well" with inspirational products, including women’s devotionals, Bibles and Bible covers.

"Our partnership with nontraditional booksellers has really been the favor of God," Bloom said. "A few of these companies decided to try some titles, and now they are a top-selling category in most of their stores. I really love that we get to share the kingdom with not only thousands of end users through this channel, but also that our customers receive favor and profitability from God-centered products."

Bloom added that the company expands its visibility by exhibiting at various trade shows, including Book Expo America, The London Book Fair, International Christian Retail Show and Chicago International Remainder and Overstock Book Exposition (CIROBE).

"Our business is thriving and growing in every direction," he said. "I have hope for Christian publishing and Christian retail. I believe that it is a key time for the industry to help train business people on how to adapt to the current business environment. Integrating bargain products into retail stores is a key way to produce store traffic and profits in any economy."

Meanwhile, the dates for the Inspirational Value Book Show (IVBS)—the only bargain show for the Christian book industry—has been announced. The third annual event is set for Jan. 13-14, 2010 in Nashville.

Despite cold weather and a down economy, vendors' sales and retailer attendance increased for the show earlier this year. Held Jan. 14-16 in Nashville, IVBS drew 20 exhibitors—up from 16 vendors who participated at the inaugural show last year. The event attracted 65 stores and 106 representatives, compared to 41 stores and 65 representatives from the 2008 show, organizers said.

Scheduled to exhibit at the 2010 show, David C. Cook, Harvest House Publishers, Moody Publishers, Whitaker House and Zondervan were among the publishers who had booths at this year's IVBS.

Times may still be tough, but there's a new sense of optimism among independent Christian retailers who are repositioning themselves for the future.

Combining a renewed focus on the big picture of their mission with heightened attention to the small details of their business, stores across the country are looking ahead with quiet confidence.

Despite a significant drop in attendance and many exhibitors reducing their presence at the International Christian Retail Show (ICRS), distributors reported good business.

Now known as a ministry of Biblica, STL Distribution North America (STLD) downsized by a third, but still had one of the bigger presences on the floor—combined with some of the distributor's partners.