Retiring teacher begins new ministry at Houston store

Sagemont Bookstore welcomed Becky French as the new director of the bookstore and café in June. A retired high-school English teacher, French assumed her new role in June after responding to an advertisement in the church bulletin at Sagemont Church in Houston.

 “I was teaching, and I was about ready to retire, but I didn’t want to just retire,” French told Christian Retailing. “I was looking for something, and this seemed like an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up. I finished teaching on a Friday and started working at the store on Monday.”

From working at a bookstore in college and serving as a missionary in Japan to teaching, enjoying good books and discussing the truth of God’s Word, French’s background and skills have helped to prepare her for the new post.

“It’s the right fit,” she said. “I really feel like the Lord opened up this opportunity for me and helped me to see it.”

French saw the opening in the bulletin while visiting her daughter’s church.

“When I saw it, it immediately connected with me,” she said. “I felt like it was the Lord nudging me, saying, ‘This is for you.’ I have a confidence that God does know what He wants us to do, and He has a plan for us.”

The store has one full-time employee—the director—and one part-time employee. Additionally, the bookstore and café are staffed by a volunteer team of about 30 to 50. The store is open six days a week, serving a church membership of more than 19,000 as well as surrounding communities. Led by Senior Pastor Dr. John Morgan, with two Sunday services, the church sees an average of 6,000 attend each week.

In French’s new position, she hopes to continue to successfully support the store and its ministry. She brings to the role a desire to learn new things and discuss ideas with the store’s customers.

“I hope to keep the ministry going as strongly as it has in the past and make it even better, but I believe the store is already quite attractive and running well,” she said. “So, I hope to keeping it going as well as it has been.”

In its 10th year, the 2,500-square-foot Sagemont Bookstore stocks a mix of books, Bibles, greeting cards and gift items. The store’s best-sellers include Bibles, church-branded T-shirts and jewelry. The café occupies an additional 500 square feet.

Church members are encouraged to use their gifts by serving in the Southeast Texas store

New Hope Church Bookstore in Manvel, Texas, depends on a committed team of volunteers to keep its store operations running smoothly.

“We use volunteers for 99% of what we do, especially when the store is open,” said Director of the Welcome Ministry Jeanne Terrill for one of the church’s four campuses. “It is staffed by volunteers and merchandised by volunteers.”

With a team of about 70 regular volunteers, Terrill said several factors contribute to the store’s low turnover rate.

“We’ve had the same volunteer base for almost nine years,” she said. “We have a very low turnover in our bookstore, probably less than a 10% turnover rate.”

The church store recruits recruit volunteers, typically by word of mouth.

After a volunteer is recruited, they fill out paperwork, complete an online orientation and go through formal training, then the volunteer works with a team leader who is an acting manager.

The store uses a hands-on training process, and volunteers spend the most time learning how to help shoppers select a Bible and working on the store’s point-of-sale system. Initially, a volunteer will work as a greeter, then will graduate to the P.O.S.

Terrill said the store looks for individuals who are friendly, outgoing and helpful.

One volunteer by the name of Jess described her experience: “There is a unique element to volunteering in the bookstore, which is the level of interaction with church members. You are forced to learn a few things and have more time to share and interact. And, of course, our current teams are fun to work with.”

Another team member, Leslie, added: “For me, I am a conversationalist, and this service allows me to talk. I also can make small contributions for Christ. Mostly though, it is easy, challenging, fun, flexible and filled with welcoming team members—plus I get to shop!”

New Hope is a multi-site church with three stateside campuses—the 288 Campus, Alvin Campus and East Campus—as well as one in Haiti. Each U.S. campus has a store, which range from approximately 200-1,000 square feet. Combined, the church has 11 services each weekend, and each service has a different set of volunteers for the store locations.

To keep turnover down, Terrill and her team operate under these guidelines: Schedule volunteer time to coincide with when volunteers attend church; listen to their story and help them serve in an area that best suits their gifts; have volunteer team leaders that act as liaisons between church staff and the volunteer team to share information about new products, weekly promotions or resources that complement the weekend lesson; schedule annual P.O.S. training; offer volunteers a store discount as a way to thank them; and be sure to have fun.

Restyling at Chapelwood church store brings new and functional update

The Bookstore and Coffee Shop at Houston’s Chapelwood United Methodist Church is  refreshing its look. The store has been given a boost with slatwall to hang wall art and a modern core-board menu sign above the café counter.

“The bookstore was designed so it’s also available as a seating area when the bookstore is not open, so I have bookcases that have glass doors on them that close and lock. The wall of the bookstore is a tile wall that curves in, then has the coffee shop cut out with a counter area,” said Kris Jodon, bookstore manager and librarian.

Prior to the redesign, the flat tile wall had a menu on it, but that left little or no room to display wall art, which sells well at the store.

With the renovation, the menu was removed from the tile wall, and the space was covered with approximately 15 feet of slatwall for the display of wall art with products from vendors like P. Graham Dunn, Carpentree and Glory Haus.

Jodon said the new and improved 3-by-5-foot café sign will work better because the menu is positioned above the counter directly in front of customers who are ordering. She collaborated with the church’s communications department to create the new menu sign.

“I think it will get noticed,” Jodon said. “With our new pastor, Rev. Dr. John Stephens, we have a lot of things that are being done differently. For example, about three years ago, we changed our colors to using different tones of green. Keeping in line with that, we got new signage last fall to bring the bookstore up to date.”

The store uses signage and placement to showcase the books and studies that are planned or are in progress at the church so people can find what they need to participate.

“Anytime you do something new, your customers will respond,” Jodon said. “They’ll look up and they see that there’s been some change, and it gets them a little more interested in what’s happening.”

The floor plan for the store and coffee shop includes an approximately 720-square-foot area. The space features an espresso-drinks bar, nine bookcases, a center display area that can showcase 90-100 books face out, three small slatwalls, a Kerusso T-shirt spinner, a book spinner and three card spinners.

“This is all in addition to three coffee-shop tables and chairs, two sofas, four easy chairs and two ottomans,” Jodon said. “We make excellent use of the space.”

The manager described the store as a warm community space. It is an open space that remains usable even when the bookcases are closed and the gifts are put away. Team members also pray with and minister to their customers.

Chapelwood has five worship communities—Mercy Street, Center for Christian Spirituality (contemplative), Upper Room, three Sanctuary services and Esperanza—each unique and serving somewhat different congregations. The communities bring a variety of customers into The Bookstore and Coffee Shop—and the need for a variety of products.

Work with independent publishers to attract more customers

As a Christian retailer competing with a variety of brick-and-mortar and e-commerce competitors, you understand the importance of thinking “outside the box” when it comes to driving traffic into your store. Likewise, independent publishers typically have an entrepreneurial approach to handling their “traditional” publisher competition. Working together can be profitable for both parties.

Once you start to build relationships with independent publishers, see if there are ways you can partner with them on driving traffic into your store via their authors. Chances are they have some excellent ideas on events, merchandising and special offers that will pique your customers’ interest.

The following are five ways you can work with independent publishers on driving store traffic, but don’t be limited by these. Brainstorm with them to learn even more!

1. Get to know indie authors via their indie publishers. Your independent publisher contacts work closely with their indie authors and understand the importance they bring to Christian publishing. These authors provide new voices to an industry filled with established authors. Independent publishers can help explain their authors’ backgrounds and the types of customers who would benefit most from their books. All you need to do is ask.

You may find that independently published (indie) authors are more accessible as far as the time they’re willing and able to put into getting to know retailers. This gives you a great opportunity to build relationships with them. By and large, they are marketing their books solo (or with guidance from some indie publishers that provide marketing and publicity options), so they need you as much as you need them. Your common goal: to get their books into the hands of your customers who will benefit from their content. Independent authors need you, and your customers need their stories, information, inspiration and insights. Be the conduit that builds up tomorrow’s best-selling authors by connecting them with today’s readers.

2. Go local! Locate indie authors in your community and introduce them to your customers.

Today, creating a sense of community in your store is extremely important to the success and sustainability of your business. This is what keeps people walking into your store rather than purchasing their books via the Internet. They want to be a part of the community—the community in which they live and the community in which they gather. If you’re not instilling that feeling in your store, then you’re basically hanging a sign outside that says, “Stay away.”

A great way to build that sense of community is by seeking out indie authors who live in close proximity and who have become—or are in the process of becoming—active members of your community. Align with them to help build community in your store. If you expect your customers to “shop local,” why not exemplify that yourself by inviting local authors into your store and introducing them to your customers?

ABA booksellers have a long history of encouraging and building up new authors to help sustain and grow the publishing industry, most notably small and independent publishers. They “get” the importance of building a community in their stores, of being an inviting gathering place for people of like minds, of establishing and maintaining relationships with new and local authors. Take a mini vacation from your store and visit area ABA stores, or plan to visit an ABA store or two if you happen to be out of town at a conference or on vacation. Take notes. You may even want to introduce yourself to the store owner or manager and pick his or her brain for ideas. Borrow brilliance!

Likewise, work with your independent publisher to identify indie authors who live close to your store. They can usually help facilitate a meeting between you and the author. Again, you all—publisher, store, author—are indies who should be working together to bring these books to the industry through your store.

3. Invite indie authors to your store to talk about their books. Book signings are great, but independent retailers know how difficult it can be to get traditionally published authors to come to their stores to participate in one. And, book aficionados also are looking for more than just an autograph. They want to engage with authors—get to know them, their thoughts, their backgrounds. In short, they want to learn about what inspires them.

Let your independent publisher know that you’re interested in bringing authors into your store. They may have some ideas for you as far as authors who enjoy doing this more than others. You want your event to be a hit, so you’ll need to make sure the author you invite is dynamic enough to keep a group of customers interested, and wanting more!

Invite these dynamic authors to your store to talk about their books with your customers. Make it a special event. Send e-mailed invitations to your customer list. Put invitations in bags. Focus on the subject of the book if the author is relatively unknown. Make sure that the subject is a draw. Serve light hors d’oeuvres or dessert and coffee. Make it cozy. Encourage interaction.

4. Design a “Local Authors” and/or “Indie Publishers” section in your store. Once you’ve located and built relationships with some local writers, set up a special section, endcap or display table for local authors’ books. Celebrate them as members of your community. If they have their own blogs, include information about them on signage, encouraging your customers to check them out online and then purchase their books in your store.

In addition to your Local Authors section, consider building a new section just for independently published titles. This “Indie Publishers” section will draw attention to these books and authors and give credibility to the importance of independent publishing in today’s market. It may even encourage your customers to put their writing talents to work and attain their dreams of writing a book (see Tip No. 5).

Also, if you don’t yet have a “Pick of the Week/Month” shelf, why not institute one in your store? In addition to the Fiction, Nonfiction, Children’s, Young Adult, Theology and other such categories, add independently published titles to the selection.

5. Start a writers’ group and/or an indie book club. The attention you’re going to draw to indie/local authors might just inspire your customers to pursue their dreams of writing books. This presents a super opportunity to start a writers’ group at your store. Like a book club, a writers’ group brings traffic, sales and increased customer engagement. Be sure to stock books on writing to cater to this group of customers. Become their one-stop shop for all things writing and reading.

Speaking of book clubs, consider forming a club just for independently published books. This will also pave the way for more indie-author in-store events and appearances.

Indie authors provide new voices and books with fresh perspectives, and the partnerships you create with these authors and the independent publishers that work with them are vital to keeping fresh product in your store that will appeal to your community—product that is not as easily available via your competitors. Independent publishers have great ideas to help drive foot traffic into your store—to help you succeed!

A publishing industry veteran, Dave Sheets is a thought leader with 1Source—a consortium that includes BelieversPress, SuzyQ Author Coaching, Bethany Press, Glass Road Media and Anchor Distributors—that provides a full range of independent publishing services for print and e-books for faith authors and publishers. Sheets has worked for Tyndale House Publishers, Multnomah Publishers, Send The Light Distribution, Harvest House Publishers and Snowfall Press. Contact him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

Employ a simple data solution to make your store hum

Being productive is something everyone can agree on. But, truth is, many frontline operators do not track the all-important metric of retail productivity. Doing so, however, brings new accountability to how they schedule their staff and how they train and lead their team to sell.

In other words, retail productivity is the art and science of increasing the sales revenue you create for each man hour worked. Drive productivity too high and your customer service will suffer, which is sure to lead to lost sales opportunities. But if it is too low, you are spending too much on payroll and killing your profitability. So let’s review the ins and outs of retail productivity.

ANALYZE DATA

First and foremost, we need a clear definition of productivity, which is sales revenue divided by the number of man hours worked. You can either track all man hours worked or only man hours worked on the sales floor. The key is to pick one method and stick with it as your baseline.

Next, we need to make sure you are set up to capture clusters of productivity data. The ideal data set is to make sure you capture sales and man hours worked for every hour of every day. You also need to be able to see this data by store location and by employee. Viewing the data by hour helps you spot when you have too many or too few staff working. Viewing the data by store and/or by employee allows you to compare stores and employees to learn from the best and to help those on the low end grow.

Capturing the actual data is the next step. In order to manage this area of your business quickly and effectively, you must invest in technology. While larger companies will find the top-of-the-line analytics solutions from RetailNext or Trafsys the way to go, smaller retail stores that want 90% of the features in a cost-effective solution that is easy to install and use will appreciate a solution called SWARM, which is offered by CKsystem.com.

Solutions like SWARM can cost as little as $99 down and $69 per month. They not only help you measure and manage productivity, but also can tell you how many people walk by your store versus the number that come in to shop, enabling you to measure traffic and determine what percentage of “lookers” you convert to shoppers. They can even automatically send a message to lookers’ smartphones to give them a special offer or enroll them in your loyalty program.

MAXIMIZE SALES

Generally speaking, you get what you measure and you always deserve what you tolerate. When it comes to productivity, it is important to measure and compare the data to threshold (minimum acceptable metric), target (ideal metric) and peak (maximum acceptable metric) goals. Productivity goals for each business will vary. Specialty retailers often set their threshold metric and peak metrics at 80% and 120% of target, respectively. So, if you determine that you want each man hour worked to generate $150 in sales, that becomes your target. Threshold is then set at $112.50, and peak becomes $187.50.

How do you move the bar? Praise staff who excel. Any store and any employee delivering between $112.50 and $187.50 in sales for every hour they work is to be recognized and perhaps even rewarded.

Conversely, coach those who underperform. Those performing below $112.50 need to refresh their selling skills.

Also, don’t forget that you might be the culprit behind productivity that is too low or too high based on how and when you are scheduling your staff. To avoid this, run productivity reports by hour and by day. Then divide the hourly sales by $150 to determine how many employees you need to have scheduled to work. While creating an acceptable schedule will result in some hours having lower or higher productivity, you should not have any hour scheduled below your threshold or above your peak target metrics. You will likely find that you need fewer full-time employees and more part-time workers with flexible schedules.

Once your schedule is published, you are now set to focus on training and developing selling skills for each of your team members. Another important factor in productivity is to train your managers and/or shift leaders to adjust staffing as needed based on actual hourly sales achieved that day versus the forecast sales assumed in your schedule. Letting people go home early or calling others in to staff up is ideal. At a minimum, reviewing the results each day and then adjusting the next several days is a useful approach.

So, between the science of capturing the right data and the art of coaching, training and adjusting schedules to actual sales patterns, you will find that you are able to provide better service to your customers, maximize sales opportunities and make sure your payroll costs are managed well. The combination of higher sales and lower payroll equals greater profits for you.

NEXT ISSUE: We will focus on the topics of inventory management and improving inventory turn.

Bill Nielsen is a 25-year Christian retail veteran having served in C-level positions with Family Christian Stores, LifeWay Christian Stores and Berean Christian Stores. Nielsen is now president of The Equation Team, a consulting firm that specializes in retail and publishing.

Assortment and environment help drive holiday sales

Christmas is the Super Bowl of retailing. The degree to which you begin now to prepare for Christmas will determine your success—regardless of the bust or boom of the season for everyone else. As with any other strategic issue, I recommend beginning with the end in mind.

Close your eyes for a few minutes and envision what your store will look like during the next Christmas season. How does it look and smell? What sounds surround the customer? What do your stock levels look like? How many employees are available to serve your customers? What items are your customers coming in to look for? All of this and more should be part of your advance planning and can be addressed in the following focus areas:

How can you drive customers into your store? The potential for traffic and sales is such that I recommend you invest 40% of your annual advertising budget in November and December. Be sure you feature some mass-appeal items that will help bring in those who do not normally visit your store. Remember too, that your average transaction will likely grow by 50% or more during these two months, so plan to invest in some special product offers or coupons.

Above all, remember that you are competing for the consumer’s disposable income, so pull out all the stops to get them to shop with you. When it comes to media, don’t rely on catalogs alone. Thanksgiving is the single best time of the year to invest in free-standing newspaper inserts.

What are your customers looking for? More than ever, this season you must be in stock on what your customer expects to find. Plan your purchasing so that the majority of your goods are received by early November. That way your staff will be free to focus on service and selling. Go heavy on best-sellers, new releases and advertised items, and then round out your assortment with other seasonal items—lower-priced impulse items to help increase your average transaction and higher-margin products that can make your profits soar!

As you set your assortments, assess your open floor space and make plans to fill it with free-standing displays, compliments of your suppliers. This is the time of the year when your store should be bursting at the seams. Secure the relevant, high-appeal items in floor displays, clip strips and spinner racks that can help maximize every square inch. Your projected higher sales volumes should provide the inventory budget necessary to make this possible. Be sure to position seasonal items in your highest-traffic locations near the front of the store or on a power aisle for easy shopping.

How can you make the customer’s experience more enjoyable? Taking time to make your store a soothing but seasonally relevant environment will create an atmosphere that compels your customer to linger longer and buy more. Scented pine cones near the front door will greet your customers with a wonderful aroma. Seasonal decorations and point-of-purchase signage in traditional reds and greens are always a winning combination. Top it off with Christmas music such as an instrumental collection that inspires, but does not detract. Having the same available for purchase is a must!

How can you best serve the Christmas shopper? We know how tiring and frustrating it can be to secure just the right gift for every person on our list. Having trained, friendly staff available can set you apart from your competition and make sure no one leaves your store without their needs being met. Begin recruiting seasonal staff in September and starting training them in early November. Analyze your sales from last year—by hour—and take time to create work schedules that ensure you have the right number of staff when you need them and not when you don’t.

What about the 13th month? The holiday season does not end Dec. 24 at 6 p.m. when you close your doors. January can be a significant revenue period if you plan ahead. Again, plan with the end in mind. Develop a life-cycle pricing plan for seasonal goods that includes full MSRP, an early markdown if necessary and then clearance.

One key is to buy items specifically for clearance. You are more apt to become known as a good place to shop in January if you have some great items at great prices rather than a bunch of leftovers no one wants. Seed your clearance selection with items you bought at high discount just for this purpose.

Another key is to estimate what percent of each item you will see at full, marked-down and then clearance pricing. Selling 100% at full retail is ideal, but not practical. It also probably means you did not buy enough and as a result, lost sales. A healthy mix is to see 50% at full retail, 30% at a reduced price and 20% on clearance at 50-75% off. Once you have a plan, monitor sales and move to a marked-down or clearance price based on your sell-through rate. Items that are moving well can wait, but those collecting dust need pricing action right away.

NEXT ISSUE: In the September issue, we’ll look at retail productivity and how to reduce labor costs.

Bill Nielsen is a 25-year Christian retail veteran having served in C-level positions with Family Christian Stores, LifeWay Christian Stores and Berean Christian Stores. Nielsen is now president of The Equation Team, a consulting firm that specializes in retail and publishing.