WWW.PUBLISHERSWEEKLY.COM 45Fall Regionals
booksellers consult sales
reps at Noble Marketing
and Genesis Marketing
who specialize in
Christian publishing.
He adds that ABA
stores could also move
into the Christian
market by supplying
study materials and
other resources to local
churches. “Many of
these books are avail-
able from Ingram or
other wholesalers, but
often the publishers
have low minimums or
free shipping on bulk
orders, too,” he says.
The Ingram/Spring Arbor marketing team, which focuses
on the Christian market, is reaching out to indie stores near
LifeWay locations and offering them inventory lists. Shawn
Everson, chief commercial officer at Ingram, says that Ingram
would like to show ABA booksellers how to stay in tune with
LifeWay customers who like to shop in bricks-and-mortar
stores. “Independents can rally,” he says. “Christian product
is in high demand; they can look at what products LifeWay
carried that they don’t and start carrying them.”
In addition to targeting LifeWay readers, indies can look
for LifeWay employees. Christian Retail Association president
Bob Munce suggests that indie stores approach LifeWay store
managers both for product insight and for potential employment.
“Well-trained staff is hard to find, and a LifeWay employee’s
knowledge of local church accounts that buy curriculum and
church supplies could also help,” he says.
Once LifeWay’s going-out-of-business sales come to an end,
replacement stores will be needed, says Tom Knight, senior v-p
of sales at HarperCollins Christian Publishing. “There are mil-
lions of shoppers who still desire the tangible experience of
choosing a book or Bible,” he says. “For both Christian and
ABA indies, there lies a real opportunity for stores to appeal to
the customers who have been dedicated to LifeWay retail stores
for so many years.”
Oren Teicher, CEO of the American Booksellers Association,
agrees. “I would hope bookstores in communities where
LifeWay is closing will look at their market and reach out to
that community to try to see if there’s a void they could fill,”
he says. “I think it would behoove indie booksellers in those
communities to take a closer look.” ■
B&H displays books and
Bibles at Christian Product
Expo on August 26, 2019.p h o t ob y
e m m aw e n n e r