President’s Message

Bill Anderson, CBA president-CEO

c>ustomers value christian retail _it’>_{s big}>Anyone who knows me reAlizes i’m An AdvocAte for christian retail. But it’s not just because of my responsibilities in this position. i’ve seen the impact of christian retail up-close-and-personal. ger than the fact christian retail accounts for 52% of christian-product sales— more than all the other channels combined. it’s more important than the fact suppliers rely on christian retail to launch new authors and artists, or its vital role in stocking and carrying backlist. it goes to the heart of serving the people in the community, and impacting them…one life at a time. when the Ark Book & Gift in columbus, in, was flooded this summer, 5 feet of water and mud destroyed most everything, shorted out computers, ruined fixtures, and closed the store. But as Peggy stafford immediately discovered, her customers would openly express their passion and commitment to making sure the store was reopened, because they—the consumers—needed it and didn’t want to live without it. so, they went to work. many groups came from various churches. it was filthy, dirty work, but people helped scoop mud, washed shelves, scrubbed the store, and did lots of the grunt work. one man offered free storage for any of the displays that could be salvaged—and provided a dry, safe place until the store was reopened. Peggy was buying some fixtures from the local Goodies store that had just gone out of business. one gentleman remarked, “oh, you don’t have enough,” handed her about $400, and said, “here. Go buy what you need.” when the store was ready, “some big boys” from a youth group went to Peggy’s house where she’d been storing some of the salvaged inventory, and moved it all back to the store—a 10-mile distance. one saturday morning, when Peggy was ready to move the displays and product back from storage, she’d ordered a rental truck—and 70-year-old Peggy and her daughter and son-in-law were going to move the contents of several storage units back to the store. Peggy was a little antsy when the truck wasn’t there on time. her daughter went ahead to the storage unit, and phoned her mom with the good news. “There are six guys here with six pickup trucks—so you won’t even need to rent a truck.” They hauled everything back to the store, power-washed it, and even bought lunch.

Peggy had to hire an attorney to assist in some of the insurance claims. The bill exceeded $3,000; however, marked at the bottom of the invoice was, “no charge.” when Peggy insisted she should pay him something, the attorney’s reply was, “no. my pleasure.”

Peggy observed that every time she said something needed to be done, someone was right there ready to help. it was very obvious the lord wanted that store to remain in columbus!

All of us in this industry acknowledge the importance and need for christian retail. we’ve been reminded again… it’s God’s work, and consumers value it. how encouraging to see consumers rise up and declare with their voices and their deeds that they’re determined to advantage themselves by keeping an excellent christian-retail store in their community.

Before the summer flood, Peggy knew the people of columbus appreciated the Ark. But now she has a new expression of that. “now they feel like they’ve helped put it here, and see it as their store,” she said.

i so appreciate this christian sister who’s not only persevered, but used her tough times as a megaphone to declare the glory, goodness, reliability, and faithfulness of God. R+R

2 CBA Retailers+Resources | 11.08

^C_BARetai lers+

Resources

11.08 • Vol. 4, No. 11

Publisher Dorothy Gore Publications Director Kathleen Samuelson Technical Editor Eric Grimm

Contributing Editors Bill Flandermeyer Verne Kenney Guy Richards Gunnar Simonsen Myila Young Strategic Solutions Executive Curtis Riskey

Art and Design: Allegra Creative 3910 Sinton Rd. Colorado Springs, CO 80907 Phone: 719-330-2242 Art Director Michael Regennitter

Graphic Designers Jenny Wollen Cindy Tidball

Advertising Coordinator Matt Ready

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CBA RetAileRs+ResouRCes (ISSN 1934-4740) (USPS 357-870) is published monthly by the CBA Service Corp., 9240 Explorer Dr., Colorado Springs, CO 80920. Periodicals postage paid at Colorado Springs, CO, and additional entry offices. Postmaster: Send address changes to CBA RetAileRs+ResouRCes, P.O. Box 62000, Colorado Springs, CO 80962-2000. Subscriptions: $49.95 per year for U.S. members of CBA and $59.95 per year for U.S. nonmembers of CBA. Telephone: (719) 265-9895. Any and all polybag inserts are germane to this publication. Canadian Publications Mail Agreement Number 40016843. Canadian return address: 155 Suffolk St. West, Suite 15, Guelph, Ontario N1H2J7. Statements of fact and opinion are made solely on the responsibility of the authors and do not represent or imply an opinion on the part of CBA Service Corp., its editors, officers, or the membership of CBA. Printed in the U.S. A. ©CBA Service Corp., 2008.

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