Despite cold weather and a down economy, vendors sales and retailer attendance increased for the  only bargain show for the Christian book industry, according to organizers.

Held Jan. 14-16 at the Downtown Doubletree Hotel in Nashville, the Inspirational Value Book Show (IVBS) drew 20 exhibitors—up from 16 vendors who participated at the inaugural show last year. Meanwhile, the event attracted 65 stores and 106 representatives, compared to 41 stores and 65 representatives from the 2008 show.

Steve Slack Jr., who organized IVBS, told Christian Retailing that both vendors and retailers were extremely pleased with the turnout, noting that all of the exhibitors' sales were up from last year and retailer attendance increased 60%.

“I think the economy increased attendance as stores still need to operate, but need to make their dollars stretch farther, and IVBS was the best way to start the year with that goal in mind,” said Slack, whose family business runs a regional chain of outlet stores and distributes remainders to other independents.

IVBS had new vendors, which gave buyers more of a selection. “Gift vendors were also present this year, which was a request from many 2008 attendees,” Slack said. “IVBS was a success for everyone involved and will be held again in January 2010.”

David C. Cook, Harvest House Publishers, Moody Publishers, Thomas Nelson, Whitaker Houser and Zondervan were among the publishers who had booths at IVBS.

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