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Christian
bookstores closing
by Doris Fleck
Christian
Publications is closing up shop while the going’s still good.
Faced with
skyrocketing lease rates and a dramatically changing marketplace,
the four-store Christian retail chain, headquartered in Calgary, has
chosen to go out on a positive note.
"We can choose
to exit honorably," said general manager, Larry Thiessen. "Let’s
celebrate three decades of good work, celebrate our staff, honor our
vendors and go out saying it’s been a great time rather than risk
being forced to the sidelines."
In the last
five years, Christian retailers across Canada have been struggling
to stay afloat. Once the only provider of Christian books, music and
curriculum, they are now being undercut by national bookstore
chains, big-box department stores, wholesale clubs and the advent of
convenient and affordable online shopping.
Ironically,
bestselling Christian books like The Prayer of Jabez, Left Behind
and The Purpose Driven Life ended up doing major damage to the
Christian retailer. Wholesalers like Costco and big-box stores like
Wal-Mart picked up on the religious market trend and began selling
huge quantities at a discount that Christian stores were hard
pressed to match.
"That doesn’t
bring your store down," Thiessen explained. "But your niche market
has a hard time growing."
Then when
churches like Willow Creek began writing and providing exclusive
sales for their own curricula, Thiessen said, "In one fall quarter
every single major church account we had evaporated."
Digital
downloading also took out much of the Christian music market. It
wasn’t long until the final death knell came in the fall of 2007.
Once the Canadian dollar reached parity with the US greenback,
stores were forced to sell their older inventory for close to cost.
This January,
Blessings Christian Marketplace closed 19 stores across the country
in an effort to survive. That left them with just four stores in
Calgary, Edmonton, Langley and Chilliwack.
"If you can’t
cover your costs, you can’t do the ministry," explained Blessings
President Mark Hutchinson. "We had no alternative but to close
down."
This year the
lease at Christian Publications’ landmark downtown Calgary store was
up for renewal. The Christian & Missionary Alliance District, that
owned this prime real estate, had already decided to sell the land.
"It would have
been bad stewardship to sit on this building with the value that
it’s gained," Thiessen said.
At the same
time, their south Calgary store was served notice that the lease was
not being renewed. With no affordable rental space available, the
difficult decision was made to close the south Calgary and Edmonton
stores by the end of June. Their Kelowna location will either be
sold or shut down by mid-summer and then their downtown Calgary
store will celebrate the end of an era in August.
Although this
has been Thiessen’s life work, he said, "Maybe the best thing that
can happen is for this to change so that these products become
available almost everywhere. Thousands and thousands of more people
have access to it."
Thiessen, who
began working at Christian Publications three years after the store
opened in 1976, says the people he’s met have been the highlight for
him.
"I have been a
part of the pastoral church community in a very unique way," he
explained. "People would seek me out and ask my opinion. That’s
probably the thing I’ll miss the most."
Although the
staff and customers are going through the stages of grieving,
Thiessen said, "There’s a sense of doing it together," as former
staff keep calling, asking to be a part of the big closing
celebration.
Blessings
President Hutchinson said he’s sad to see Christian Publications
close since "they were a true ministry."
But he added,
"We want to be able to do all we can to plug the void, and to
champion and support Larry right to the end."
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