Approximately 150 retailers learned Monday morning about turning mothers-who comprise a $1.7 trillion market-into evangelists and were presented with ways to strengthen their children's department based on CBA research.

"Moms with young children are great evangelists for your products," said children's market consultant and author Mary Manz Simon, who again hosted the popular Children's Product Trends event.

Curtis Riskey, CBA's strategic solutions executive, shared consumer data from CBA's report Know Thy Customer: Achieving High Performance Retailing During the Downturn.

"Children are a key customer group for Christian stores," said Riskey, who ran a Christian bookstore for eight years. "About half of active Christians reporting to the CBA consumer intelligence surveys have children at home, and nearly 40% are younger than 12 years.

"About a third of all children's books are purchased by households with children younger than 5, even though they comprise only about 14% of total households. More than 40% of children's product buyers are from adults-only households."

Joshua Williams-who also serves as manager of The Salt Shaker Christian Bookstore in Enumclaw, Wash., an hour south of Seattle-said he "always looks forward" to attending the children's workshop, which has been presented by Simon for the last 15 years. "Mary always has her finger on the pulse of children's trends," he said.

David Almgren-owner of Kidz on Earth, an online store based in Portland, Ore.-said the event was "very informative, especially the spending habits of moms." "It's helpful to hear about new products," he said. "Overall, it provides good information in understanding the consumer."

Terry-Lynn Cann, manager of Kingdom Connections in Hamilton, Bermuda, said the workshop was "spot on." "It's phenomenal that we are focusing on children's products," she said. "The whole event is a learning tool to help retailers to get kids to learn about Jesus."

The morning session ended with 16 suppliers, who donated products to be given away to the retailers in attendance, sharing about their latest children's releases. The vendors' donated items ran the gamut from DVDs to T-shirts, a bargain for the $25 entrance fee.

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