Posted on 04/19/2017 2:16:37 PM PDT by SoFloFreeper
More than 3,000 employees in 36 states will be laid off in the liquidation of one of the world’s largest Christian retailers.
More than two years ago, suppliers forgave Family Christian Stores $127 million in debt so that it could remain open. Today, the chain—which bills itself as “the world’s largest retailer of Christian-themed merchandise”—announced it is closing all of its stores after 85 years in business.
Family Christian, which employed more than 3,000 people in more than 240 stores across 36 states, blamed “changing consumer behavior and declining sales.”
“We had two very difficult years post-bankruptcy,” stated president Chuck Bengochea. “Despite improvements in product assortment and the store experience, sales continued to decline. In addition, we were not able to get the pricing and terms we needed from our vendors to successfully compete in the market.
(Excerpt) Read more at christianitytoday.com ...
Last couple times I wanted a new bible, I went to Books-A-Million and to Wally World.
P.O.D. is pretty good.
I remember-—since I didn’t always have a Christian “pop” station to listen to, picking up the “WOW” albums & for a while every song on there (2 discs!) would be just great. Last 2-3 WOWs? Not one.
It just means you are getting older.
I remember the metaphysical conundrum I faced before I believed. I couldn’t conceive of a Spirit like that picking up my entire undeserving life and blessing it to a whole different destiny — all whilst the devil did his worst.
Little theological gimmicks won’t tell the story. We as Christians must take the metaphysical bull by the horns.
That’s true, but that doesn’t explain it. For example, I love the secular pop stuff that’s out now-—as opposed to the secular stuff that was out maybe 10 years go. It has markedly improved (sure, it’s nowhere close to the Beatles, Cream, Eagles, blah, blah, but it’s far better than the late 1990s stuff.
I think Christian pop lost a lot of fire and originality when DC Talk and Point of Grace and Avalon broke up, when Chapman and Smith began to tail off, and when the new wave of “whiner” male and female Christian singers came in. I still like new music that is good of all varieties-—the Killers, Eagles of Death Metal, etc. But face it, the new Christian stuff just isn’t very good.
I think some old taboos — social ones, but not biblical ones — will need to be breached.
You should google The Kentucky Bridgeburners “Look it up in the Bible”. Heavy Metal Gospel.
One contributing factor is the mega churches who have their own bookstores.
Good point.
What amazes me is when brick and mortar stores treat customers poorly.
A couple years ago, I got a pair of jeans from my mom for Christmas from Eddie Bauer. I didn’t like them and tried to return them.
I didn’t see anything else I liked and asked for a refund. I had a gift receipt. They told me they could only give a store credit.
I looked at the guy and asked just what the gift receipt was for if it wasn’t proof of purchase and eligible for a refund. I said, “Gee, retail stores are failed all over. Those that survive need to treat their customers a little better than Eddie Bauer does.” and walked out. My wife ended up getting something with the credit.
I had never shopped there before and certainly won’t again.
My daughter manages the children’s department at a B&N. That’s the one department that seems to do well, when done right. She’s only been at that store 6 months and already has regular customers who ask her advice on what to buy.
Kids come in and run around looking for her. She also schedules regular events for the kids.
What was wrong with store credit? I think that is a pretty reasonable solution. Retails stores have low margins and cannot afford to just give cash back once they book the revenue.
That policy is designed to foil the legions of serial returners that Nordstrom (and Amazon) have created.
Because there was absolutely nothing there I remotely liked. A gift receipt should be treated just like a regular receipt.
Internet competition, plus the local Lifeway has way more inventory and a much better selection than the local Family Christian Store ever did.
ping
I think you are being selfish. Your mom gave you a Christmas gift and she probably put some thought into it. Trying to exchange it for cash is rather tacky. You should have accepted the jeans and thanked her for them. If you felt you absolutely could not live with the jeans your mom handpicked for you than the least you could have done was take the store credit and obtained other merchandise at the same store your mom shopped at.
Speaking for myself, I have never returned a gift somebody gave me. Even if I didn’t like it, I managed to find some use for it.
Well, not to be offensive in any way, but how many Bibles do you need? It’s not as if everyone is going to buy them over and over again.
the 2 locations I have been in some years back the store employees did not seem to care I was in their store, not saying hello, may I help or have a good day as I walked around looking at things and then leaving without purchasing.
They changed their name and focus before Amazon was a serious competitor.
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