CBA Industry Blog

Curing Craziness

A few minutes ago I popped my head over my cube wall to ask my co-worker Cathy if we were done yet. Done with what, she wanted to know. “Done being crazy, that’s what.”

This time of year is notorious for making the CBA staff slightly… okay… extraordinarily stressed out and brain dead. (I called my boss the wrong name not once, but twice yesterday!) I’m sure the rest of you are experiencing some of that same frantic commotion these days too.

As crazy as we may all be these next few weeks, I wouldn’t miss it for the world. (And I’m not just saying that because I work for CBA!) Several months ago at a CBA area meeting, I spoke about the upcoming Show and how much I enjoy it. Actually, I think I said something to the effect of its one of my favorite parts of my job and one of my favorites thing I get to do all year. I might not look like I’m enjoying myself come Thursday afternoon, but that’s another story...

So, to share some of my excitement with you, here are a few reason why I’m really looking forward to being in Orlando next week…

More Operation Worship Updates

The stories keep coming in. Here's another great example of the impact Tyndale and Operation Worship are having on communities and individuals alike...

“Just want you to know that to date I have received 66 cases of Bibles and have sold and distributed 39 of those cases. I have 27 cases remaining. Hopefully they will go by mid-July.

Our focus for staff devos on Thursdays here at the store is Operation Worship. This morning we gathered around the table that we have set up for our customers to sit and write their messages of encouragement ... we prayed specifically that "some soldier" would come to know Christ through one of these Bibles.

I had a pastor call me today and ordered 3 cases of Bibles and said ‘I applaud your store for what you are doing.’ I in turn applaud Tyndale and thank you all for partnering with us to make an impact in the lives of so many.” 

Operation Worship Military Bible Update

If you haven’t heard about Operation Worship’s military Bible campaign by now, you’re missing out on a fabulous initiative. We here at CBA have greatly appreciated the partnership between our stores, Tyndale, and Operation Worship. The success stories have been pouring in so we thought we’d share just a few quotes.

“As of this morning, we have sold 800 individuals and 21 cases (672 units). The stores seem to be as excited about this campaign as any that I've seen. We should crush our 10,000 unit goal.”

“We’ve sold 46 cases (1472 units) in our one store alone. This campaign has done so much for our relationships with our local churches.”

“With many of our retail partners already two weeks into their promotion, sales are definitely accelerating. We are beginning to hear of significant church orders as the stores are reaching out to the church communities as well as their in-store promotion. There is great excitement throughout CBA retail and a very refreshing commitment to the ministry to our troops.”

Thanks for all you’ve been doing and keep up the great work!

July BSLs are up!

The July BSLs are listed below and on the web. Want more frequent data updates? Like weekly updates? Sign up to receive CBA's CROSS:SCAN data feeds. It's easy. It's fast. It's free... to members.

And in case you haven't heard, best-selling author William Young will be speaking at the CBA Member Breakfast at ICRS. Register today to reserve your seat and hear from the author himself!

Fox’s “The List” and other DVD thoughts…

Last week I had the privilege of reviewing Fox’s latest release, The List. Check it out if you haven’t heard about it yet. Hopefully though it’s selling in your stores already, as I’m slightly behind on some posts here. (Did you know ICRS is a mere three weeks away?)

Now, I say it was a privilege to watch this film because I highly appreciate the work of the Fox team, and the diversity they bring to the DVD category in Christian retail stores is even more appreciated not only by me, but by the viewers too.

(And – slight confession – being a teenager ten years ago meant not being able to escape the TV show phenomenon known as Dawson's Creek, in which Mary Beth Peil always played the ultra-conservative Christian grandmother. Watching Peil act in The List was kind of like taking a walk down memory lane again. Only this time, there were no braces and awkward high school dances.)

Gift Products: Ministry Opportunities or Jesus Junk?

Within this industry, there are some who think the introduction and expansion of the gift product category has revived sales and given retailers a variety of new reasons to draw customers into their stores. There are others who believe gift products have been the death of the Christian bookstore.

So what’s your take on gifts? How are gifts working or not working in your stores? What types of gifts would you like to see sold? Are they here to stay or are they just “Jesus junk”?

ICRS: The Inside Scoop on New Additions

Hi there – Scott Graham here. Sorry I haven’t been on the blog much lately, but seeing as the International Christian Retail Show falls under my jurisdiction, it’s been a little hectic around here to say the least. I just wanted to key you in to a few updates to the Show’s line up so you’ll well ahead of time how to plan your week.

• Did you know the entire New Product Gallery will be raffled off to one retail attendee at the Show? All retailers have to do is have their badges scanned earlier in the week by a CBA employee to be entered in the contest, and at 1:30pm on Thursday, July 17, one winner will receive all the products – more than 100 and counting! The winner must be present so don’t leave early!

Religious books still selling...

Last week the New York Times published an interesting article on book sales. While the title may be disheartening, keep reading. Or, if you want the abridged version, here's what the article had to say about religious book sales...

"Religious books had another strong growth year, selling 274.5 million copies, up 4.2 percent from 263.4 million a year earlier. This niche of books, which last year included Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day, a new book from Joel Osteen, the TV evangelist based in Houston, increased net revenue by 6.3 percent, to $2.58 billion."

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.”