The large potential Christian urban market-estimated to be as much as $1 billion-extends beyond the big metroplexes into the suburbs, Chicago retailer Cliff Goins told workshop attendees yesterday.

Research showed that 40% of African-Americans, who comprise most of the urban market, live in the suburbs, but Christian stores in those areas mostly do not have a customer base within that constituency said Goins, co-owner of SincereMilk Christian Store.

A survey of urban stores in three major markets revealed the striking difference in demand for Christian products in the urban community, with only three of May's top 10-selling titles on the list for the same period from the general Christian retail market-The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman, Jerusalem Countdown by John Hagee and The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren.

Together with store co-owner Shundrawn A. Thomas, Goins asked those in The Publisher and Retailer's Guide to Understanding and Reaching the Urban Market workshop to comment on and analyze a selection of advertisements and rate how effective they were in connecting with those in the urban market.

Participants observed that one ad for a Christian women's book that featured a white woman sitting in a prairie setting did not connect with urban consumers, but would have connected if the same person was sitting in a subway or some other city setting.

Goins said that publishers and retailers need to work to develop relationships with African-Americans, who research has shown became “entrenched” in their buying habits once they feel they know and trust a supplier.

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