San Luis Obispo-based marketing agency The Parable Group has announced that Michelle Wright has been hired as a digital marketing specialist. Wright has a 20-year background in sales and marketing with specialties in project management, publicity, social media and promotions with a strong entertainment focus.

Wright joins The Parable Group most recently from Hughes PR, where she served as marketing/PR specialist for the Cantinas Foundation. Wright also brings industry knowledge from previous roles with Rogers & Cowan, Provident Distribution, Renovation (non-profit) and Reunion Records.

During her years at Provident Distribution, Wright managed retail campaigns for Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment faith and family films including The Bible miniseries—the highest grossing, non-theatrical video sale to date through the Christian retail channel and the No. 1 miniseries of all time across Blu-Ray, DVD and Digital HD.

“I’m excited about the future of our digital marketing solutions and the new technologies, opportunities and relationships that transpire daily. Michelle’s extensive experience complements our distinctive approach to implementing accountable marketing solutions, providing an important opportunity to meet and exceed our clients’ diverse needs,” says Steve Potratz, president of The Parable Group. “We are delighted to welcome this talented new member to our digital team.”

In her new role, Wright will serve on the digital marketing team under Laura Clark and champion online display, video, mobile, social media and email campaigns for a variety of Christian organizations and ministries. The Parable Group enjoyed marked growth in their digital marketing services and is forecasting tremendous continued growth for that channel in 2015.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to join The Parable Group marketing team,” Wright said. “After interfacing with the company in several different capacities over the years, I have gained the utmost respect for the leadership and mission of the team. I look forward to contributing to the expanding landscape of marketing faith-based entertainment products.”

Uptown Nashville LLC has come under contract with LifeWay Christian Resources to purchase LifeWay’s downtown Nashville campus, the organization said in a statement this week.

Bizjournals.com identified Los Angeles real estate magnate C. Frederick Wehba Jr., whose father C. Frederick Wehba Sr. founded the BentleyForbes real estate company in 1993, as part of the Uptown Nashville group.

A LifeWay news release stated that contract terms, including the sale price, have not been disclosed pending closing of the sale of the 15-acre venue in a few months.

When the same is completed in the summer, it will pave the way for LifeWay to build a new facility, LifeWay president and CEO Thom Rainer said in the release.

“Although the buyers are still finalizing a master plan for the site, I understand their intention is for it to be a mixed-use development including office, retail, residential, entertainment and hotel,” Rainer said.

“And, the sale—when completed this summer—will provide the resources for LifeWay to build a new facility, hopefully in downtown Nashville, that will support the technologies, collaboration and culture needed for today's and tomorrow's successful national and international ministry."

Janet Miller, CEO of Colliers International, the brokerage firm representing Uptown Nashville, called the project historic.

“Re-development of the LifeWay campus is one of the largest economic development events in the recent Nashville history,” she said. “The project will continue to create jobs and investment in the downtown core, much as LifeWay has done the past 120 years. This campus will be a lynchpin in the future development of downtown Nashville and has the potential to become a new gateway to the central business district.”

Rainer said the buyers have said Uptown Nashville will “architecturally combine historic charm, paying homage to Nashville's roots, with the finest quality modern and forward-thinking design. They pledge the mixed-use community will be environmentally green, technologically advanced and service-oriented.”

The sale involves LifeWay’s downtown Nashville complex, including more than 1 million square feet of office, warehouse and parking space.

Time is winding down on the voting period for Christian Retailing's Best awards. Christian Retailing invites anyone involved in the Christian trade to help us name the top products of 2014 in the Christian Retailing’s Best awards. The voting period runs through March 31.

Click here to vote.

Christian Retailing’s Best finalists will be announced April 6, and winners are expected to be announced at the International Christian Retail Show in Orlando, Florida, in June.

Introduced in 2001, the awards have been increasingly acknowledged as an important way of recognizing some of the most significant new life-changing products in the Christian retail industry.

For more information, email Awards Coordinator Jenny Rose Curtis at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Less than a week after her book The Hardest Peace was named as a Christian Book Award finalist, David C Cook author Kara Tippetts, 38, died after a long battle with breast cancer.

The author of two books, including Big Love, David C Cook approached Tippetts about writing The Hardest Peace after she was diagnosed with stage 4 metastatic cancer. The book has had a huge impact on many lives, including her own.

“Writing The Hardest Peace proved to be a gift,” Tippetts said on her blog, mundanefaithfulness.com, earlier this year. “The writing of this book helped me through the diagnosis of cancer and it finding more and more corners of my body: my brain, my bones, my liver, my lymph system. The writing of this book caused me to look at my story and see the grace to walk this hard path with cancer.

“This is not simply my story and journey with cancer. It is a book written to appeal to us all as we meet the bitter edges of life on this side of eternity. In the brokenness of our unmet expectations of life, will we look for Jesus and His abundant love, or will we tumble into bitterness and anger that leave us utterly self-focused and disappointed by the hard (parts) in our story each of us are asked to receive?”

In a released statement, David C Cook officials relayed their gratitude in working with Tippetts.

“We at David C Cook are thankful for the blessing of sharing Kara Tippetts' words of grace, hope and healing over the past year. We are deeply grateful we were able to share time with Kara and to learn from her most incredible love for and relationship with our Lord. Throughout Kara’s incredible journey, her expression of faith inspired thousands.  It is our prayer that Kara’s legacy lives on in the hearts and minds of each of us for years to come.”

In The Hardest Peace, Tippetts doesn’t offer answers for when living is hard, but she asks us to join her in moving away from fear and control and toward peace and grace. Most of all, she draws us back to the God who is with us, in the mundane and the suffering, and who shapes even our pain into beauty.

The closing of Rainbow Parable Christian Bookstore in Colonial Heights, Virginia, didn't sit well with local customer Wallace Markert. Not wanting to see the business go away, he decided to do something about it.

When he discovered that the store was to close in December, Markert approached store manager Gary Hoffman, who let him in on the details of Rainbow Parable’s situation. Markert then decided to purchase the store and its assets. The store will re-open on April 15 with a grand re-opening date set for April 18.

When offers for the store had “fallen through,” Markert picked up the ball and ran with it. A big part of the decision to purchase the store was to honor the memory of his wife, Brenda, who passed away from cancer in February 2013.

"A little more than two weeks before the store was to close, I overheard an employee say that in working here, 'it just doesn't get any better than this,'" Markert said. "She said she was serving the Lord, ministering to people and getting paid for it. This is a wonderful Christian environment, and that sets us apart from a lot of other stores.

"I just got the call from the Lord. Just give me a mustard see and let's show what the Lord can do. This is all for His glory. If it's from God, then nothing can stop it. We believe this is from God."

A new lease on the building was signed two weeks ago, and the store will re-open soon at its former location at Southgate Square Shopping Center. The store’s six employees, including Hoffman, are now restocking the shelves.

“To put it mildly, we're very excited about the whole thing," Hoffman said. "We were so disappointed to have to close the store in the first place, but we're so grateful that God's hand came into this. We're really looking forward to getting back into business.

“A lot of other people (were interested in reopening the store), but when they find out what goes on behind the scenes and see the tremendous expense running a place like this and that sort of thing, they kind of disappeared, but this man, he stuck with it all the way.”

The bookstore, which sells Christian books, Bibles, music, movies, church supplies, games and other gift items, is part of Parable Christian Stores, an association of independent retailers.

“We have collectively prayed about this, uplifted each other up about this, so we just know it’s going to work because it’s all for God,” employee Ruth Newell told the Petersburg Progress-Index.

Hoffman will maintain his same position at the store. The store is no longer under financial burden, which Hoffman said is a huge relief.

“It’s a big change already,” he told the Progress-Index. “I find myself laughing more than I did before because the pressure is off me now,” he said. “It’s amazing when the pressure’s off how much better you are."

Rainbow Parable Christian Store has formed partnerships with local businesses. The first weekend it is open, the store will partner with the local Chik-fil-A, which will give away some of its product during in-store promotions.

Hoping the temperatures will meld with their desire to celebrate, 80% of Americans this Easter are eagerly looking forward to a fun, family-filled holiday.

According to the National Retail Federation’s Easter Spending Survey conducted by Prosper Insights & Analytics, the average person celebrating Easter will spend $140.62, slightly more than last year’s $137.46. Total spending for Easter, which includes purchases of apparel, decorations, gifts, candy, food, flowers and more, is expected to reach $16.4 billion.*

“Easter will be the perfect segue into spring for both consumers and retailers who have longed for warmer weather for quite some time,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay. “As one of the busiest times of year for several retail sectors and as shelves begin filling with both traditional spring and holiday merchandise, retailers are looking forward to welcoming shoppers with attractive promotions on home goods, garden equipment and traditional Easter items.”

Consumers this year will use Easter as the perfect opportunity to spruce up their spring wardrobes. According to the survey, 45% of those celebrating will purchase clothing, spending more than $2.9 billion on bright colored apparel items for themselves and their families. However, more people plan to buy food for the holiday: 85.7% will purchase food for a family meal or other festivity, spending more than $5.3 billion on Easter fare.  

Children and sweet-tooth craving adults will also purchase candy this Easter: 87.1% of those celebrating say they will buy candy, spending more than $2.2 billion on jelly beans, chocolate bunnies and flavorful chick-shaped Peeps. Consumers this holiday will also spend $2.4 billion on gifts, $1.1 billion on flowers, $998 million on decorations and $695 million on greeting cards.

With a laundry list of items to buy, 58.6% will head to discount stores to purchase their holiday merchandise. Another four in 10 (40.7%) will shop at department stores, while nearly one-quarter (23.8%) plan to shop at a local or small business. Additionally, 21.8% will head to a specialty store like a florist or jewelry store and 18.8% will shop online.

For the first time, NRF asked consumers about the activities they are planning for Easter Sunday, and the survey found many of the traditional aspects of the holiday will be in play this year. The survey found nearly 6 in 10 (57.4%) plan to visit with friends and family, half (50.8%) will go to church and 12.9% plan to open gifts. Not forgetting the little ones, 3 in 10 (30.9%) adults will plan a special Easter egg hunt for the children in their lives. Additionally, 15% of those celebrating will opt out of doing dishes and head to a restaurant to celebrate the holiday and 24.1% will browse the Web throughout the day.

“Easter remains a beloved affair for consumers young and old, and this year it looks like families are ready to dig into their budgets to make the most of the special day,” said Prosper’s Principal Analyst Pam Goodfellow. “The warm weather should help fuel some interest in celebrations, especially given the record-breaking winter much of the country experienced the last several months.”

Busy Easter shoppers will take advantage of their mobile devices to help them find meal items, gifts, candy and more. According to the survey, 21.4% of those who own smartphones and are planning to celebrate Easter will use their phone to research products and/or compare prices, and another 13.5% will purchase items with their smartphone. Nearly one-quarter (24.9%) of tablet owners will research products and/or compare prices for their Easter needs on tablets; 16.6% will purchase something via their tablet.

* Total spending is an extrapolation of the U.S. population 18+

About the Survey

The NRF 2015 Easter Spending Survey conducted for NRF by Prosper Insights & Analytics was designed to gauge consumer behavior and shopping trends related to Easter spending. The poll of consumers was conducted from March 3-10, 2015. The consumer poll of 6,106 has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.3 percentage points.

This summer’s International Christian Retail Show in Orlando, Florida, will offer a new program for Christian publishers. Media Associates International and Magazine Training International will partner with the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA) to present “Publishing in a Digital World.”

The International Christian Retail Show is set for June 28-July 1 at the Orange County Convention Center.

According to the CBA website, speakers for the program will include Ron Forseth, the vice president of business development for Outreach Inc.; David Renard, a consultant for mediaIDEAS; Dan Balow, the director of publishing development and a literary agent for the Steve Laube Agency; John Maust, president of Media Associates International; Ramon Rocha III, director of publisher development for Media Associates International; and Sharon Mumper, president of Magazine Training International.

Sessions include: 1) The pros and cons of producing apps; 2) building interactive digital products; 3) monetizing digital content; 4) Digital Publishing 101; 5) effective digital marketing strategy and 6) technology equalizers. Sessions will be held on Sunday, June 8 through Wednesday, July 1.

In addition to the program, MTI and MAI will be in the International MarketSquare exhibit area to meet with publishers and provide consulting advice.

MTI is also partnering with the Evangelical Press Association (EPA) to present “Award-Winning Design” on April 7-8 prior to the EPA’s annual convention.