CBA Industry Blog

In the zone...

Wow! This has been one crazy week. Who gets anything done this time of the year? And to make matters worse, that countdown to ICRS is not stopping! 45 days is not a long time. Not at all.

From within the walls of the CBA building, the annual sighing fest has begun. Those sighs are usually accompanied by an encouraging, “Okay. I can do this. We can do this. It will get done for the Show.”

Earlier this afternoon I took a few extra minutes to run across the street to the Focus on the Family bookstore where some of the Waterbrook team was hanging out with Alex and Brett Harris, authors of the new book, Do Hard Things. The Harris guys were having a book signing so I thought I’d take a moment to connect with them and see how customers reacted to seeing such young faces making such bold statements.

CBA welcomes “A New Day” in Christian retail at upcoming International Christian Retail Show

Growing evidence that consumers are wearying of big-box stores and mass merchandisers and are coming back to specialty retail is one of many indicators Christian retail is entering a new day, according to CBA, the trade association for Christian retail. Accordingly, the industry’s upcoming International Christian Retail Show is being built around the theme, “It’s A New Day.”

“We’re expecting around three thousand Christian retailers to come to the Show anxious to explore ways we can ready ourselves and our stores to retail in this new era of opportunity,” said Bill Anderson, president of CBA. The workshops, training, and Super Sessions at the Show will be geared to equip retailers to understand and lay hold of the opportunities of this new day. “Throughout the Show we’ll be working together as an industry to find ways to continue improving the shopping experience in our stores so that customers will consistently choose us above their other options.”

June 2008 Best Sellers are up!

Check them out below or online at CBA. Some interesting changes going on this month!How's your store tracking?

The Down Lo: Prince Caspian

My friends at Grace Hill Media gave tickets to a number of us here in Colorado Springs to a screening of Prince Caspian the other night. Now, I have to admit, I wasn’t as enthusiastic about seeing Caspian as all the giddy children around me were. I loved the first Narnia film and I knew eventually I’d see the second one in the theater, but I am ultra-conservative when it comes to buying into hype of any kind. And when it comes to sequels.

The lights in the theater had barely dimmed when the same excitement that overcame those children moments earlier crept up on me too. Before I knew it I was back in Narnia, along with all the other Pevensie children.

Here are my quick thoughts… hope you get to see it this weekend!

- Pretty sure Aslan didn’t get enough screen time. The few moments he had, particularly the ones with Lucy, were especially precious and powerful.

- As the quote goes in the previews, you may find Narnia a more savage place than you last left. It’s gorgeous, but definitely more intense (read: war-torn and suspenseful) than the first visit.
- Great post-viewing discussion opportunities abound. You might want to take notes.

- My hat is off to Andrew Adamson and his team. I cannot begin to imagine taking on the challenge of directing a film like this, but thank you for doing so. It was an enjoyable and often times breath-taking journey back. Well done.

First National Merchant Solutions is CBA’s service provider for credit card processing. If you haven't heard yet, FNMS is running a promotion from now until July 31 called the $500 Meet or Beat! If they can't save you money on your credit card processing, they will give you $500. Either way, you win. Give them a call today at (888) 474-8267 and be sure to identify yourself as a CBA member.

Below are a few tips from FNMS on how to avoid credit card fraud...

Check the last four digits of the card account number.

If they don’t match those on the receipt or on the terminal display, call your authorization center and ask for a code 10. Key-enter the account number of a card only if the card cannot be read by the mag-stripe reader. Always make an imprint of the card if a transaction is key entered.

Check the signature panel.
If the signature panel is not signed, ask the customer to sign the card. In addition, ask to see government-issued identification such as a driver’s license or passport. When the customer signs the card, compare the signature on the card to the signature on the receipt to make sure they match. If they don’t match, call for a code 10.

Faith Films vs. Family Films

Okay retailers, I need your help. I am writing an article for an upcoming issue of CBA Retailers+Resources on the subject of faith films versus family films, and I need to explore the idea of how retailers are now choosing what to stock in their stores.

So, what do you think? How do you decide what to carry? How much do your customers' demands influence your purchasing habits? Where do you draw the line what's appropriate? Is it okay for a Christian retail store to carry more mainstream products like Hannah Montana DVDs? What is actually selling your stores today? If we stripped away all family films, what would your core inventory really be? And perhaps more importantly, what do you want to see from the studios?

My deadline is Wednesday so hurry and either post your comments here or email me! Thanks much!

Great Opportunities Abound...

CBA member retailer Gunnar Simonsen from Christian Supply Center in Portland, Oregon, emailed our team recently with some great information on what’s been happening in his area and how Christian Supply has been reaching out to the churches and customers in its community. We hope his words will spur your thinking and encourage you in your work.

The main thing right now is with the Momentum Conference. This is and has been grass roots the entire way. I just received word that we are now nearing 400 students registered for this event that was not even on our minds 60 days ago.

The beauty in this is that the heart is this... "It's not about the numbers...it's about the hunger."

This year, the Luis Palau organization is returning to their own backyard and holding a massive waterfront event in Portland. The last time they were here, we saw 150,000 people show up in a town that many say is the moat unchurched in America. What is so exciting about this year is that they have added a twist to the experience by calling on the local church community to rise up and commit to various service projects around the city. At their kickoff meeting this past spring, we saw 750 churches represented. It was an amazing event that called for Thy Kingdom come and not that of our individual churches or businesses. Meaning, it is not about my kingdom or yours, but His.

Take Control! Take Advantage of Your Benefits!

When people call CBA wondering why they should be a member, one of the very first things we typically tell them is they have access to an incredible amount of savings through CBA’s Service Providers. These savings can greatly impact a company’s bottom line. Even if a store can save 10% of its expenses across the board, that difference might be all that’s need to get back on track in today’s economy.

So today we’d like to share with you how one retailer is using of her member benefits. We really do hope you’ll take advantage of your benefits, as they will save you time and money. If you have questions about CBA’s benefits or ideas for future benefits, contact Lauren.

A few years back, I challenged myself to quantify the actual savings that Siriani’s Fed Ex program was providing to our store in contrast to my CBA member dues, because I had observed other stores dropping their membership on the basis that it was not "cost efficient." Since then, I have tracked our savings under the Fed Ex program. In 2007, we saved in excess of $717 in freight savings under the Fed Ex program. Even after I "filtered" out the $120 of savings attributable to charge backs and billing corrections that I'd negotiated with Fed Ex Customer Service that resulted in a net savings of $596 in one year alone.  Put that in contrast to the $350 our CBA membership annual dues and it's a "no brainer" to stay a member.

The Down Lo: The Shack? For the win? For the loss?

I read The Shack last week. More precisely, last Wednesday night. I started it around 8:00 PM and couldn’t really stop. At 3:00 AM, my lights finally went out. I cannot recall the last time I did that with a book simply because I was intrigued.

When one of my roommates, who works at Focus on the Family, learned of my all-nighter, she immediately asked my opinion of the book. Apparently, the Focus staff has received quite a few earfuls regarding The Shack and its content that can seem heretical.

I shared my thoughts with my roommate, something I’m not going to do here though. In the course of our conversation what struck me as ironic is how divided some are on this book. I can see how this situation could easily turn into an unfortunate dramatization of Matthew 7:4.

For retailers selling it, I imagine The Shack is helping boost some sales. Otherwise, how did it climb to #4 on the best sellers lists? What I am curious to know though is how are customers responding to it? For those carrying the book, have your customers come back to share their opinions? For those not carrying the book, how have your customers reacted to your decision? And where is the line drawn when it comes to heresy, especially when a profit can be made?

Making it work in today's economy

At least once a month, Kathleen sends out an email to all our member retailers asking them questions about relevant issues. Last month she received so many responses that she couldn’t possibly include them all in the Retailer Response section of the magazine. So we’ve decided to post a few here as well. The following answers are from Will Schremp, owner of Discount Bible Book & Music Store in Detroit, MI. Let us know what you think!

What are you currently doing (or would like to do) with your book sections to make them easier to navigate and more appealing to your customers?
New book fixtures would be nice.  We are still using homemade ones I built almost 30 years ago, repainted, of course. However, my guess is new fixtures would not increase sales as the product would not be any better displayed.

What type of publisher-provided marketing/merchandising support would be the most beneficial to your book sections? Why?
Here is where we are different than most other stores. We have offered "across the board" discounts of at least 10% for over 30 years, starting back when discounting was very unpopular. In the last 10 years are so we have emphasized the "bargain" end of our business, buying remainders, sometimes whole skids. In the past 4 years we have been buying front and back list from several publishers. We carry the majority of their list selling it at 30 to 50 percent off list, depending upon the discount we get.