State of the Industry report’s upbeat outlook

Written by Eric Tiansay

Monday, 12 April 2010 02:38 PM America/New_York

Christian retailers are pretty upbeat after coming through another tough year, according to CBA's annual State of the Industry report.

A "strong" 82% of respondents expect sales in 2010 to be the same or better than 2009, the trade association said--with the overall weighted-average, projected sales increase for the year at 2.2%.

That outlook follows an average sales drop of just over 3% last year, though 25% of stores reported sales growth, and nearly 9% said sales had been flat. Last year's study found that 2008 sales had fallen almost 11% over the previous year.

The 2010 anonymous survey--based on 150 responses representing almost 200 locations--also found that Christian stores lagged behind all retail during the 2009 Christmas season, reporting an average 2.1% decrease in net holiday sales. The National Retail Federation reported all 2009 Christmas-season retail sales up 1.1% from the same 2008 period.

The rate of store closures slowed slightly last year with a net loss of 32 stores compared to 37 stores in 2008, and fewer new stores opening, according to information from the association itself and those whom CBA described as "various industry sources."

The report indicates that church-relations strategies contribute significantly to positive store growth, said CBA. Among stores hosting at least one pastor's event in 2009, 43.3% experienced overall sales increases from 2008-more than twice the rate of stores with sales increases that didn't host any kind of pastor's event (21.2%).

Despite a struggling 2009 economy, only 3.2% of respondents plan to close their store this year-down from 6.3% in last year's survey.

CBA made public only brief details of the report-which is available in full free to member retailers who participated; for $39 to member retailers who did not take part; and for $59 for non-member retailers who participated.

The document is also available for $79 to CBA-member suppliers. It is not available to non-member retailers who did not take part in the survey, nor to non-member suppliers.