More than 400 Christian stores have signed up for Zondervan's new Symtio initiative, touted as "a turnkey, multi-channel solution for digital media," which launched this month.

Unveiled at the International Christian Retail Show in July, Symtio features credit-card-sized book tokens that can be purchased in Christian retail stores, which allow consumers to download audio versions of the titles at home.

Symtio was launched Oct. 17 with about 150 audio titles and nearly 50 e-books from Zondervan and Baker Publishing Group, with discussions taking place about adding other publishers' works, Zondervan officials said.

"These numbers will grow quickly as additional publishers come on board," said Tim Close, senior vice president of Symtio, a separate division of Zondervan.

A technology veteran, Close leads a seven-person, Chicago-based staff hired to work on Symtio. In addition, two employees for Zondervan—with headquarters in Grand Rapids, Mich.—were scheduled to transition to work on the digital program.

Myron Detweiler, vice president of merchandising for Berean Christian Stores, told Christian Retailing that all of the chain's 25 stores would carry Symtio.

"It is ahead of the trend, which is great for the CBA market," he said. "We are thrilled with the partnership and the opportunity."

David Lewis, director of sales and marketing for Baker Publishing Group, told Christian Retailing that the Grand Rapids, Mich., publisher began with six audiobooks for Symtio, but it will add more than 100 e-books soon.

Read the full report in the Nov. 11 issue of Christian Retailing.

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