LifeWay Christian Stores has acquired the Northwestern Book Stores chain of five stores in the Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn., area-owned by the Cutshall family for 61 years.

The purchase of Northwestern locations in Coon Rapids, Woodbury, Burnsville, Maple Grove and Edina was completed Aug. 2. All the stores except the Burnsville location reopened as LifeWay Christian Stores yesterday, company officials said. The Burnsville store will reopen this Saturday, Aug. 7.

"The folks with Northwestern Book Stores have done an outstanding job of serving the Minneapolis and St. Paul communities," said LifeWay Christian Stores President Mark Scott. "We're honored to have the opportunity to work with their dedicated staff and continue their ministry. We're also excited to offer the people and churches of Minnesota a wide range of biblically based resources."

Brian Cutshall, president of Northwestern, added: "We've operated the Northwestern Book Stores in this area since 1949, and we're happy to be passing the ministry baton to LifeWay Christian Stores, who has the same heart and desire to serve these communities that we've had these many years."

With the acquisition, LifeWay now operates 162 stores in 27 states. Additional details about grand-opening celebrations, scheduled to begin Sept. 11 at all the Minnesota stores, will be released at a later time.

Owned and operated by Nashville-based LifeWay Christian Resources, LifeWay Christian Stores acquired two Christian Supply stores in Beaverton (Portland), Ore., and Spokane, Wash., earlier this year. The acquisition was completed April 19, and both stores reopened as LifeWay Christian Stores on April 21.

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