Spring Break
Christian bookstores lose out to chains, Internet
Zachary Lewis/Religion News Service
Issue date: 6/24/07 Section: Divine Intervention
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.
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.
The co-owner of the area's largest Christian bookstore, Rainbow Family Book Center in Maple Heights, recently sent a letter to customers explaining her struggle as a result of the increased competition. Alice Wilson said she wrote the letter after watching sales decline by 10 percent each of the last three years. Sales during January and February were down 25 percent from those months last year.
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.
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.
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.
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." But neither lasted long enough to rescue stores already in trouble. 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 Joseph Sua, owner of Sua Religious Goods. "But then again, we don't."
Zachary Lewis writes for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland.
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.
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.
The co-owner of the area's largest Christian bookstore, Rainbow Family Book Center in Maple Heights, recently sent a letter to customers explaining her struggle as a result of the increased competition. Alice Wilson said she wrote the letter after watching sales decline by 10 percent each of the last three years. Sales during January and February were down 25 percent from those months last year.
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.
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.
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.
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." But neither lasted long enough to rescue stores already in trouble. 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 Joseph Sua, owner of Sua Religious Goods. "But then again, we don't."
Zachary Lewis writes for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland.
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