A book-selling leader who is a missionary has challenged other retailers to renew their first love—for reading books—as part of their business plan.

"In our current economic environment, I have come to the conclusion that we must all become avid readers or we will die," warned David Almack, U.S. Director of CLC International, which publishes books and runs CLC Bookcenters in the Philadelphia area and New Jersey.

"We all need to commit to put down our iPods and cell phones, turn off our televisions and take a Facebook fast," Almack writes in an Industry Forum guest column in the December issue of Christian Retailing. "Making time every day and certainly every week to immerse ourselves in the books and authors that God has given us the privilege to represent has to be one of our biggest business priorities."

Almack says that through his years in the industry, he has found Christian retailers who loved what they did and were successful "book people" and hired "book people." "To my dismay, however, on all too many occasions, I ran into colleagues who confessed that they did not read much."

He adds: "This may be a little harsh, but for those that say that they really do not enjoy reading, I would suggest that maybe they are in the wrong business or they need to reconsider their priorities."

In an exclusive audio interview for the digital edition of the magazine, Almack also talks with Christian Retailing about the importance of reading and gives ideas on how busy retailers can incorporate it more into their lives.

Read more in the December issue of Christian Retailing.

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