Christian Retailers going the way of the buffalo

Below is an article from CROnline discussing the morbid state of Christian Retailing. Christian Bookstores are struggling. As far as I know, 10 stores in the state of Florida have gone out of biz in 2007. I'm not going to make excuses for it. Just as the church struggles to stay relevant to the culture, so does the Christian Bookstore. There are some things I love about the industry. There are some things I loathe (but that is a post for another day). Just as the church struggles to stay relevant into today's culture, I believe Christian bookstores are struggling to stay relevant. Unfortunately, for 10 stores in Florida, it was a losing battle.

Let me reassure you. The Living Word is not going out of biz. While the industry is struggling, God continues to provide. We are stable, healthy, and show no signs of letting up. Thank you to all of my customers and employees for helping TLW and C28 stay active in ministry.

God, help us to stay relevant in Miami, in West Palm Beach. May we stay focused and driven, not on Balance Sheets and P&L Statements, but on the ministry you have set out for us.

Therefore, since through God's mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart.
II Corinthians 4:1

I'm going to add commentary in the article below. My words will be italicized and tabbed. Enjoy.

Thanks to CROnline for the report.

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Small Christian retailers losing out to chains, the Internet

By Zachary Lewis
Religion News Service

CLEVELAND — David may have defeated Goliath, but in the battle between independent Christian bookstores and retail giants, it's the little guy who’s losing.

If what’s happening here in the Midwest is any indication, small, locally owned religious bookstores and church suppliers are going out of business, conceding defeat to the Internet and big-box retailers like Wal-Mart, Borders and Target.

One of the latest to fall: The Word Christian Resource Center in suburban Parma Heights, the third and final store in the small chain to close since 2005.

“People don't understand what’s going on,” said owner Rob Haskell, whose parents started The Word in 1976. “If people are willing to give up their local jewels, that’s one thing. ... But if they're not, they need to support the independent stores.”

Honestly, I never really understood this mindset. If another business has a better business model than me, (read: if they can sell items cheaper) then good for them. It frustrates me that some of my contemporaries think that the customers HAVE TO SHOP with them or they are being unfaithful, unspiritual. Guess what. I'd do the same too. In the day of $3.29/gal for gas, you can't blame people for being cheap with their funding.

Haskell isn’t alone in his frustration. Nationwide, 623 Christian book and supply stores closed between 2005 and 2006, according to The Association for Christian Retail (CBA).

Meanwhile, demand for Christian products is greater than ever. CBA member stores reported total sales of $4.34 billion in 2004, $340 million more than in 2000.

Misleading stat. 2004 had several blockbuster frontlist items. Purpose Driven Life was still strong. Your Best Life Now by Joel Osteen was booming. Even Passion of the Christ was bringing in many people into a Christian Bookstore that may not have been there otherwise. The stat I would like to see is what did 2006 look like? I'm wagering it wasn't pretty.

Retailers say one factor is more consumers are shopping by computer. Sometimes, Haskell said, patrons use his store to view the item they want before buying it online.

“There isn’t one day that goes by that the Internet’s not brought up by my customers,” he said. “That's the 800-pound gorilla.” In many cases, consumers aren’t even shopping online. They're downloading or copying what they want freely from sites like Bible.com and Biblegateway.com.

And if you can't provide a benefit to beat the Internet Companies, then unfortunately you're going to have to go somewhere else. Amazon and iTunes are not going anywhere. If you can't provide a benefit over the Internet companies (customer service, frequent buyer, atmosphere/environment) pack it up and call it done.

“People don't need to buy Bibles anymore to compare (passages) ...and I can't disagree with them,” said Nancy Davis, owner of Buckeye Church Supplies in the suburb Rocky River, which closed its street-level store last June and fell back on its basement warehouse.

There’s no doubt Internet stores have made online shopping convenient. Wal-Mart’s Web site directs visitors shopping for Christian books to a range of specific sub-genres and lists organized by denomination. The books are often discounted 20 percent to 40 percent and shipping is typically 97 cents. At Amazon.com, most purchases of more than $25 qualify for free shipping.

What irritates me is the mindset of some business owners that they can't compete with Amazon or Wal-Mart. Wal-Mart doesn't carry the depth of Christian books that you do. Match Wal-Mart pricing on those books (or at least get close). Then recommend companion materials to go with it. Be smart about it. Be helpful to the customer. Let's face it. When's the last time you found someone smart and helpful working at Wal-Mart? They're not that difficult to defeat, if you can afford to play their game.

Family Christian Stores, a national chain with 300 stores in 37 states, also maintains an active Internet component selling everything from Bibles to apparel, church supplies and DVDs.

Tom Cousineau, owner of Henninger’s religious goods, said his family’s 86-year-old company in Cleveland has remained profitable in part by embracing the tech wave and mounting an Internet business in 2002.

“You don’t buck the trend. You go with it,” he said. "We make sure we know what’s going on.”

But even Web sites with advanced profiling abilities can’t replace the personal touch or expertise of staffers at neighborhood stores, he said.

“I’d rather recommend an author to you, and you realize I know what I’m talking about, and then you’ll come back to me,” he said.

Just as vexing to small Christian bookstores are mega-stores, such as Wal-Mart and Target. Business owners say customers who used to buy crucifixes, Bible software and Christian music at their shops now get those items the same place they buy shoes, groceries and electronics.

So find something else. What is there that we can provide that they're not willing to? You mean we're going to have to work hard to come up with new ideas? We're going to have to think outside the box? Wow. Scary (and sad) thing is... I don't have confidence that the industry is capable of thinking outside the box. They had it nice and comfortable for many years, and now that Christianity is being embraced by parts of the secular world (which I love) it's not that comfortable. That just means it's time to fight.

Joseph Sua, owner of Sua Religious Goods in Cleveland, said he’s getting by catering to Catholics with jewelry and statuary. But lately he has noticed Kmart stocking one of his former standbys: Nativity sets. Only Kmart doesn’t sell the Italian, handcrafted sets he used to carry. “Now they’re cutting into that part of the market, too,” he said. At the area’s largest Christian bookstore, Rainbow Family Book Center in Maple Heights, co-owner Alice Wilson sent a letter to customers pleading for help a few weeks ago. “Our situation ... is critical,” the letter said. “We are struggling to survive in a difficult economy along with increased competition.” Wilson said she wrote the letter after watching sales decline by 10 percent each of the last three years. Sales during January and February this year were down 25 percent from those months last year. Closing has been an option permanently on the table, she said. “We always talk about it, but then we come up with something else.” Payroll has shrunk accordingly. Wilson said the store now has 28 employees, down from 60 in better times. Before it closed, The Word dropped from 30 employees to six. Buckeye, where the employee roster has dropped from 14 to three, has stayed afloat on sales of church bulletins and Communion supplies, two types of products still in relatively high demand. Davis said she's just trying to hold on long enough for her employees to become eligible for Social Security.

There's an encouraging statement... employees are so old they're trying to get Social Security. Wow. Not much chance of staying relevant there.

Smaller stores are also less attractive to publishers and distributors, many of whom have ceased offering discounts on small orders or have begun selling in bulk directly to churches.

I gotta say I understand this too. Bookstores are middle-man. And it makes perfect sense to cut out the middle man sometimes, especially if they can go to the church. But there are times when Christian Bookstores screw things up too. Just the other day I got a call from a Pastor/friend of mine. His church is going on a mission trip and they needed a large amount of Bibles. We're talking close to 100. He went into the local Chrisitan bookstore to see if they woudl give him a discount. They only knocked $1.00 off a $30+ Bible. Saving $1/unit (3%) on 80+ Bibles is ridiculous. Especially considering that the store is elligible for a much larger discount if they would have contacted the publisher directly and said it was a direct-to-church order. Instead, the Pastor walks away. Ironically, if the pastor contacted the publisher directly, he would have received a 50% discount. Gee, I wonder why churches aren't working with Bookstores anymore. It's not financially prudent for them to.

Davis said it’s often cheaper for her to buy certain products herself at Target or Wal-Mart and resell them, rather than pay the manufacturer's price only to charge the customer less.

I've done this to. Several times. Haven't thought about it. It's true. But that's part of retail.

There have been surges in sales. One came after 9/11. Another came after the release of Mel Gibson's film, “The Passion of The Christ.”

“It really did help,” Wilson said.

But neither lasted long enough to rescue stores already in trouble.

“After that, we really saw a drop-off,” Haskell said.

Some of what’s hurting small Christian bookstores stems directly from the nature of Christianity itself.

Because most Christian bookstore owners are also devout Christians, they say they’re often loath to engage in hard-nosed competition like other business owners. Retailers say they practice the kindness their books preach, routinely referring customers to each other.

“We compete, in a way,” said Sua, of Sua Religious Goods. “But then again, we don’t.”

Comments

[RC of strangeculture]

Man, this article is intersting...I bet you could have commented on every paragraph of this article in depth.

I appreciated your thoughts.