Advance 2007 kicks off today at the Indiana Convention Center with the Future of the Industry conference (FOI) and a Bible Sales Summit that will focus on growing Bible sales in Christian stores. CBA expects 4,000 people to attend the Jan. 29-Feb. 2 event.

FOI will present “high-level strategic information … which will positively influence all of the meetings, sales pitches, purchasing and planning strategies throughout the rest of the week,” said CBA President Bill Anderson.

A focal point of FOI will be the announcement this afternoon of a new industry initiative that Anderson said will “build the foundation for the future of the Christian retail channel while helping Christian retailers perform better today.”

An examination of how Christian retailers are meeting industry challenges also will take place this afternoon. For the first time, CBA partners with leaders from different sectors of the Christian Retail channel to present a comprehensive State of the Industry review. Joining CBA President Bill Anderson for the review will be Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) President Mark Kuyper representing publishing; Gospel Music Association (GMA) President John W. Styll representing music; and CBA board member (Gifts & Specialty Products Director) Peter Dunn, president of P. Graham Dunn, representing gifts.

While more specific results of an annual survey of CBA store members will be made available at Advance, Anderson believes that Christian retailers, who have been facing fierce competition resulting from the broadening distribution of Christian products through a variety of channels, may have turned the corner toward growth.

“Having made hard decisions-especially in the areas of personnel, inventory, and marketing-stores are regaining control of their costs and bringing expenses into line,” said Anderson, who believes the survey will indicate a wide variety in sales results in stores, from up to down, to simply flat.

The Prospective Retailer Seminar takes place tomorrow, while Expo, the trade-show portion of the convention, will open tomorrow evening with more than 200 exhibitors.

Attendees will be treated to an advanced screening of the upcoming theatrical release Amazing Grace-the life story of William Wilberforce, England's Christian abolitionist leader-Thursday night. The movie is produced by Walden Media, the same company that produced The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, and is due to open in theaters nationwide Feb. 23.

Advance 2007, which concludes Friday, has the theme of “Fresh strategy. Fresh ideas. Fresh start.” The event will close with Independents Day, a training event for independent bookstores.

Christian Etailing will include special reports from Advance 2007 every day this week.

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