The Monday, Jan. 19, edition of Christian Etailing incorrectly stated that more than 200 retailers from such countries as Australia, Nigeria and India gathered Jan. 14-17 in Atlanta for the second annual Marketsquare International sponsored by the Christian Trade Association International.

Rather, 208 publishers, suppliers and retailers—including 74 buyers from outside North America, a 35% increase over last year’s event of 55 buyers—attended Marketsquare.

The surprise hit Fireproof-the top independent movie release of 2008-is to be released on DVD by Provident Films tomorrow, Jan. 27.
The drama, which stars Kirk Cameron as a firefighter who turns to Christ to rescue his marriage, has made $33.3 million since it debuted at No. 4 the weekend of Sept. 26 with $6.8 million total receipts in just 839 theaters nationwide, according to BoxOfficeMojo.com. Fireproof—which was boosted by grass-roots support and bulk ticket purchases from churchgoers as well as some Christian retailers—had a modest $500,000 budget.

Dove Award-winner Margaret Becker hasn’t released a new album in nearly a decade, but that all changes next with Air, from Modern Records/Go Global Entertainment. While the independent recording has been available for several months on iTunes and at some retail chains, it releases Feb. 10 to independents.

Becker has found plenty of things to occupy her time these last 10 years, including speaking and writing—she published a book in 2006, Coming Up for Air (NavPress), that loosely ties into the album. “My records still come, but they come at a lot more leisurely pace, as they serve the overall theme of what’s going on in my life instead of fitting a niche,” she said.

Go by the Newsboys (Inpop Records/EMI CMG Distribution) supplanted Wow Hits 2009 by various artists (Wow Gospel/Provident-Integrity Distribution) atop the SoundScan Christian/Gospel music Christian retail chart for sales the week ending Jan. 18, with Facing the Giants (Provident Films/Provident-Integrity) continuing at No. 1 on the Christian Videos list.

Following Go was: 2. Wow Hits 2009; 3. A New Hallelujah by Michael W. Smith (Reunion Records/Provident-Integrity); 4. What If We by Brandon Heath (Reunion Records/Provident-Integrity); 5. Speaking Louder Than Before by Jeremy Camp (BEC Recordings/EMI CMG); 6. Hello Love by Chris Tomlin (sixstepsrecords/EMI CMG); 7. Revelation by Third Day (Essential Records/Provident-Integrity); 8. The Altar and the Door by Casting Crowns (Beach Street Records/Provident-Integrity); 9. I Turn to You by Richie McDonald (Lucid Artist/Lucid Artist); and 10. Dream On by Ernie Haase & Signature Sound (Gaither Music Group/EMI CMG).

After Facing the Giants, the best-selling DVDs were: 2. Alligator Hunter, Life at the Pond (Isaac Entertainment/Word Distribution); 3. How Great Is Our God?, Louie Giglio (sixstepsrecords/EMI CMG); 4. Fireproof (Provident Films/Provident-Integrity); 5. Flywheel (Provident Films/Provident-Integrity); 6. The Second Chance (Provident Films/Provident-Integrity); 7. He Touched Me, Elvis Presley (Coming Home Music/EMI CMG); 8. Walk the Walk: 2 Complete Workouts, Leslie Sansone (GT Media/EMI CMG); 9. Indescribable, Louie Giglio (sixstepsrecords/EMI CMG); and 10. The Star of Bethlehem (Genius Entertainment/EMI CMG).

The video listings, drawn from a national sample of mainstream and Christian store sales, with music listings based on sales solely at Christian stores, were produced for the Christian Music Trade Association by Nielsen SoundScan.

In response to the growing economic turmoil, CBA has launched an initiative to provide consumers with biblical financial help through their local Christian bookstore.

The retailers trade association has partnered with Focus on the Family, Salem Radio and Tyndale House Publishers for the Campaign Financial Aid (CFA) initiative, which will be supported by a national marketing campaign.

Retailers can participate in a number of ways, including offering financial advice books such as Faith-Based Family Finances (Tyndale House Publishers) and Surviving Financial Meltdown (Focus on the Family/Tyndale House) by Ron Blue and Jeremy White. Surviving Financial Meltdown will be available to stores in heavily discounted promotional packs, including four free to give away to those customers who cannot afford it, CBA said.

Consumer researcher Britt Beemer has gloomy news for Christian retailers, for whom he has delivered past landmark studies on the channel's customers.
According to his America's Research Group (ARG), Christian bookstores' share of business dropped significantly, in January data. Slightly more than 6% of the population shopped at a Christian bookstore, compared to 12.4% the same time last year.

Reflecting the sinking economy, sales of religious books decreased 9% in November, while all book categories were down 14.4% for the month, according to the Association of American Publishers.

The month’s sales for religious books were $47.8 million, while the category’s sales were down 10.4% for the year. Sales of religious books also decreased 25.6%, 11.8% and 10.8% for the months of October, September and August, respectively.