Christian retail market heats up
Salisbury — At meeting of the nation’s top 100 independent religious booksellers in Nashville last month, an industry publisher announced it was scaling back the number of titles available for distribution to retail stores. The news was a second “holy cow!” for Jack Savage, who is already fighting to shield Jack’s Religious Gift Shop from what could be his stiffest competition in nearly 50 years.
Not only must Savage retain market share with fewer titles from longtime Tennesee-based distributor Thomas Nelson Publishing Co., he must do it in competition with the growing Family Christian Stores, a national chain scheduled to open the city’s first location this fall.
“Independently run religious stores are financially hurting. (Family Christian) will pull a bit of sales away from other stores,” said Savage, owner of Jack’s Religious Gift Shop on Snow Hill Road in Salisbury. “Any time somebody is doing the same thing, you’re concerned. Many stores — hundreds — closed last year, and about the same number are closing this year. The just can’t make it. The Christian chain is a trend.”
Savage’s less traveled Snow Hill Road location contrasts sharply with the bustling North Salisbury Boulevard retail haven where Family Christian Stores is opening its Salisbury Shoppes mini-mall next to Starbucks Coffee. The site mirrors other trendy or upscale locations in the country that pair the Grand Rapids, Mich.-based chain of religious products with or near a Starbucks.
Susan Morgans, public information officer for Mount Lebanon, Pa., said of a proposed 2-acre Family Christian Stores location in the Allegheny County town near Pittsburgh, across from a mall with a Starbucks and near a Barnes & Noble, “It would draw from newer communities emerging in the suburbs, from an upper middle class community.”
Savage turned down an offer by Family Christian to sell the gift shop he founded in 1959, saying he wants the community to retain an independent store where owners can opt to accept or reject titles and offer shoppers dated or rare books. Savage is also wary of large retail chains swallowing smaller stores and basing inventory solely on bottom lines rather than religious ethics.
“They were interested in buying my business, but it’s a ministry for me,” he said. He cites a hot new Christian novel, “The Shack,” that made the New York Times’ trade paperback fiction Best Seller list and has stirred controversy by some critics who characterize it as heresy. The book — a cold case file-type tale about a man’s encounter with God in the form of a jolly African-American woman — is on shelves at many booksellers, including Barnes & Noble and Family Christian — but not at Savage’s shop.
“It’s not what I wanted to sell,” Savage said. “(Chain) stores sell what is more popular, top selling items. If a book is not moving fast enough, they won’t carry it. We even have a back list, or books that have been published for years.”
Reliance Capital Management, a Cincinnati-based real estate development limited liability corporation, in November announced acquisition of the 1-acre North Salisbury Boulevard lot with plans for a 6,000 square-foot retail center in which Family Christian Stores would occupy 4,000 square feet.
Gillis Gilkerson of Salisbury is constructing the retail center that has a 106 Ruark St. address, although frontage will be on Route 13, according to the Salisbury Building, Housing and Zoning Department. The location is zoned for general commercial, allowing for the sale of food, a spokesman said.
Principals at Reliance Capital could not be reached to comment, although the corporate Web site touts a Salisbury proximity to Starbucks, similar to the location under construction in Mount Lebanon. In Florence, Ky., Reliance Capital promotes a Family Christian Stores location in a retail complex anchored by the “first Starbucks in Boone County outside of a grocery or book store.”
In a news article on the company Web site, Jerry Atkins, owner of Reliance Capital, described the retail center’s architecture as a “fairly expensive” version of a “lifestyle center.”
Becky Gschwind, a Grand Rapids spokesman at Family Christian Stores, said the company — whose Web site promotes books, tapes, CDs and even online scriptures — intends to hire at least five employees in Salisbury and offer additional seasonal opportunities. Occupants for the additional 2,000 square feet of Salisbury retail space would be determined by Reliance Capital, she said.
In Mount Lebanon, Keith McGill, an economic development official, said Reliance Capital Manage-ment’s proposed 8,000 square-foot retail center with a Family Christian Stores location is expected to be heavy on books — a concept unique to the region. “We have a Christian Science Reading Room, and that’s probably the extent of it,” he said.
Savage isn’t convinced the Wicomico County region of 90,000 or more residents can support another store specializing in Christian products. He cites the religious-oriented Gospel Shop on South Salisbury Boulevard as well as his own, where books, including bibles, make up at least 50 percent of his stock.
A significant drop in the number of independent booksellers and gift shops became noticeable two decades ago, about the time retail chains as Barnes & Noble and even Sam’s Club and Wal-Mart were either adding or extending lines of religious-oriented books. In the last decade, the number of independent book stores or gift shops with a religious bent dropped nationwide from 6,500 to about 4,000, said Savage, who served several years as president of the Colorado Springs-based Christian Booksellers Association.
“About 20 years ago, we noticed the chains and they increased quite rapidly in the last five or six years,” he said. “We lost about 400 (independent stores) since 2007; Family Christian Stores closed stores, too.”
Family Christian Stores reports a $4.3 billion Christian retailing niche market, with merchandising categories including bibles, books, music, apparel, software, cards, church supplies and DVDs. The company describes itself as “America’s leading specialty retailer,” with over 300 locations and more than 5,000 employees in 37 states. According to a store locator, locations are in Newark, Del., Virginia Beach and on Maryland’s western shore.
“We’ve had stores over the country for a number of years,” Gschwind said.
With an inventory of gifts and church products ranging from pews and pulpits to steeples — and a loyal customer base —Savage is determined to stay in business. Besides, Thomas Nelson Publishing, a major supplier, has promised that despite title cutbacks, “we’ll get better books,” he said.
“I think we’ll do all right,” Savage said. “We’re trying to watch our expenses, and we have merchandise people want.”
from DelmarvaNow.com © 2008
