Cedar Springs Christian Stores has announced that it will be closing two of its three stores, including the venue in Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and the one on Clinton Highway in Knoxville.

Cedar Springs’ West Knoxville location at 504 N. Peters Road, in business since 1995, will remain open. The Oak Ridge location had been in business for 27 years, while the Clinton Highway location closes its doors after 14 years.

At one time, Cedar Springs Christian Store was the largest independent Christian bookstore in the country. The McGinnises opened their first store in 1976.

“Our struggle as a company is that people’s habits have just changed,” Vicki Geist, the daughter of founder Curtis McGinnis, told the Knoxville News-Sentinel. “They are sitting at home shopping from the Internet. I don’t think people in Knoxville understand what that does to local business.

”We have friends all over the country that are closing stores. Sadly, it’s a common story. I don’t know what the future looks like for bookstores, and here we are a Christian bookstore that draws from a much smaller market.”

Geist told the News-Sentinel that there is no firm date in closing the stores, but believe it likely will be May.

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