Church-Mart Christian Bookstore in Rocky Mount, Virginia, closed Dec. 30. The demise of Church-Mart, in contrast to the success of its relatively new sister store, LightHouse Gifts and Books in Hardy, Virginia, highlights recent changes in the Christian retail industry.

Owner Scott Gabrielson said Church-Mart failed to realize financial stability during a span of over three years in spite of apparent popular support. Church-Mart was located outside of the business district, making it a “destination store,” and carried products specifically for the Christian market.

Gabrielson said that Church-Mart, paradoxically, experienced significantly more traffic after the store’s closing was announced.

“After we announced the closing, we had the best sales numbers of our entire run,” Gabrielson said. “Many folks, some I have never seen before, expressed their sadness, including some who indicated it was their favorite store. Oddly, many also indicated it was their first visit. Overall, I believe that people love having a Christian store in their area, but when it comes supporting the store, it is easier to shop for books and media online.”

Remaining inventory—including Christian studies books, Bible studies, niche Bible translations and some fiction—will be transferred to LightHouse Gifts and Books. LightHouse has seen significantly more success, which Gabrielson attributes to having a broader base of gifts and being promoted as an “inspirational gift and book store” rather than a “Christian store.”

Gabrielson elaborated on LightHouse’s goals in the community.

“Our overall goal is to reach people for Jesus Christ, and by not self-identifying as a ‘religious only’ store, we find lots of folks who come in our door and end up purchasing some Christian material that hopefully will speak to their soul,” he told Christian Retailing. “One of the ways we do this is by going outside the ‘Christian wholesale market’ for gifts that are the most popular nationwide (none that are offensive of course). We have found that many of the gifts available within the ‘Christian wholesale market’ are same old, same old, and people are primarily interested in those items that are fresh and give them an instant smile. When a gift we offer makes our customer smile, we have won a long-term customer who will continue to return, so long as we keep the store fresh. Sadly, we were unable to do this at the original store, since the name (Church-Mart) indicated a ‘church only’ line of goods, and (the) location was a difficult one.”

Gabrielson says the company will continue to operate under the Church-Mart Inc. name as it relates to the trade.

Editor's note: The Church-Mart closing does not affect the Church Furniture Store business that Gabrielson started many years ago but sold in 2014 to a group of employees. Gabrielson indicated that it "continues to do well."

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