To take part, head on over to thebookseller.com: scroll down the page when you get there and you’ll find the poll at the bottom of the right-hand column.
As for me, I’d say market places and bookstall services are pretty good contenders too: as Steve Mitchell said to me recently, “there are plenty of creative committed people out there, rightly doing they are called to do” — part of his conversation with the Bookseller that was edited out, following the part I cited in my last post.
Steve, I salute you: if I were a bookseller being made redundant, I can’t think of anyone I’d rather have to deal with — may the Lord grant you and your colleagues the grace, wisdom and mutual respect you need through these difficult times.
SOMETIMES, IN RUNNING UKCBD/THIS BLOG, I want to make like Elijah: to simply run away, hide in a cave and wait for the inevitable. Unlike Elijah, however, I’m not being pursued by an angry Queen who wants to chop me into pieces: on the whole the Christian book/retail trade remains a very positive area to work in; and whilst the unrelenting tide of bookshop closures may feel like a tsunami overwhelming us, I don’t think God has finished with this trade yet. Refining and redefining, certainly; but finished? Far from it — and what I see happening here is far from whistling in the dark.
Allow me to offer some facts and figures:
The UKCBD database currently holds 801 records. Of those, 209 are flagged ‘Omit’, for various reasons: some are incomplete and have never made it to the live site, others are archived as businesses have relocated; only 79 (just under 10%) are specifically flagged ‘Ceased Trading’ — and only 26 have been flagged ‘Ceased Trading’ within the last 12 months. That’s not the full picture: I’m aware of a number of shops that have ceased trading (Chelmsford Christian Bookshop and Quench, St Albans are two examples) but I haven’t updated their entries yet, simply due to the constraints of time and other commitments.
On the opposite side of the coin, however, during that same period 23 new records have been added. Looking back over the last quarter alone, these include:
Some of these are brand new, launched within the last few months; some are relocated or ‘resurrected’ businesses, taking over existing premises from collapsed ventures; others are well established but had somehow slipped under the radar and never made their way into my listings; and some, quite clearly, are not ‘Christian bookshops’ as we’ve come to know them: they are all, however, part of the current Christian retailing reality, the reality that is now being refined and redefined.
Again, this isn’t the full picture: it’s rare for more than a couple of weeks to go by without someone contacting me to provide details of a shop or business that isn’t in the directory. As I prepare this post, I have records pending for several shops that I’ve only recently found out about:
On average, then, for every shop that has disappeared over the last year, another has popped up: some towns, such as Nottingham, are now without a Christian bookshop; others, such as Rotherham, have gained one; and elsewhere, more flexible ventures such as Richard Greatrex’s Windflower Books and Jenny Hickman’s Midlands Christian Books have emerged. The UKCBD database is growing, not shrinking.
Some of the chains — SPCK, Wesley Owen, Living Oasis — are broken beyond repair; others — CLC and FM Bookshops — are still in business, some branches struggling, some thriving, the strong supporting the weak. The collapse of Living Oasis and the failure of Koorong to make a go of Wesley Owen here in the UK perhaps tells us more about the shortcomings of their particular business models than it does about the trade in general.
Steve Mitchell is right in what he affirms when he says:
… it is a brave man to bet against the online business which is so rapidly growing… the charity or independent model is now the best option to maintain physical Christian stores.
But he is wrong in what he denies: because there are plenty of brave men — and women! — out there: not “betting against the online business” but integrating the online with their business models.
The future of Christian bookselling in the UK depends not upon pitting the online against the physical but upon bringing the two together. It’s a secret that lives at the very heart of our faith: “There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female” — and to that I add, there is no longer physical or virtual — “for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.”
We who are Christ’s disciples should know these things better than anyone else. Throwing people overboard in the storm is not the way of Christ. Lopping off limbs when the head says to the foot, “I don’t need you anymore,” is not the way of Christ. The only time we see Christ breaking things up is when the temple of mammon attempts to supplant the temple of God — and, coming full circle now, the remnant of Israel that God promises Elijah he will save consists of “all the knees that have not bowed to Baal, and every mouth that has not kissed him.”
The way of Christ is the Cross: is to face impossible odds, to take the pain, to bleed and die, and then — only then — rise to new life. There are no short cuts to resurrection.
To those now feeling like limbs lopped off; to those pursuing the vision of that “well-run and nimble independent sector” that Eddie Olliffe speaks of; to those following the way of Christ regardless of personal cost: I salute you.
The Bookseller, 31/1/2012: Bulk of Wesley Owen bookshops to close
ACCORDING TO A BOOKSELLER REPORT published this morning, all but one of the Wesley Owen bookshops now look set to close as the company focuses on its online trading rather than the bricks & mortar stores:
Wesley Owen has announced it may close all but one of its chain of Christian bookshops, saying the bricks and mortar business has been overtaken by digital and online growth.
The chain closed its Bath and Bristol branches at the weekend, resulting in 18 job losses, and has told staff and suppliers it intends to “significantly reduce its high street presence.”
Currently 15 employees are in consultations about the future of their jobs and the company’s retail director, Steve Mitchell, told The Bookseller: “We think there will be one – but maybe two or three stores left.”
The report goes on to quote Steve as saying,
Making the decision to do this has been as hard as decisions get. It is partly to do with the economic position, but even if we had waited until the economy got better it is a brave man to bet against the online business which is so rapidly growing. We have seen our online business growing significantly – 3-400% in the last two years – and we recently started selling e-books and that has taken off rapidly too.
and concludes with the observation that “it is our view that the charity or independent model is now the best option to maintain physical Christian stores.”
EDDIE OLLIFFE reflects on the current state of High Street Christian bookselling after so many recent closures and asks important questions about the way forward:
It has felt like a tsunami of bad news of late with so many Bookshop closures. The UK has lost 26% of its Bookshops since 2006 (over 400 outlets according to the Booksellers Association) and many of these are Christian Bookshops. This decline seems to be quickening with various shop closures announced almost weekly. Even the once-invincible Christian chains have succumbed, weighed down by high central costs and slow decision making: Scripture Union, The Church of Scotland, SPCK, Living Oasis and now Wesley Owen. I’ve written elsewhere that I believe the future belongs to a well-run and nimble independent sector. Have we simply gone full-circle?
The whole sorry saga of these closures came home to me as a bitter blow when I heard of the closure of Wesley Owenon Park Street in Bristol. This was originally the venerable ECL shop where I had cut my bookselling teeth in 1980 under the watchful eye of dear Alan Maynard, God bless him. The ECL Bookshop was originally opened in 1852 by Bristol’s famous George Muller and the building is still owned by the George Muller Charitable Trust…
Update, 26/1/2011: Official announcements about the closures have now been posted by Wesley Owen: Bath | Bristol (pdfs, identical apart from the store locations and dates of closure)
The Bath Chronicle published a report on Weds 25/1/2012: Christian bookshop closes its doors
NEWS EMERGED YESTERDAY of further redundancies at Wesley Owen as the Bath and Bristol stores closed their doors for the last time; and whilst in certain respects that news — coming so soon after the weekend’s news of more job losses at TMD — might seem beyond worse, all is not yet lost: Richard Greatrex, former manager of the Bath store, has branched out independently with his own venture, Windflower Books.
Describing the project in a welcome message on the company’s newly launched website and blog, Richard writes:
Windflower Books has been in existence since 2007 as a small scale concern selling secondhand and remaindered theological books on the internet, supplying bookstalls for communities and events and publishing small runs of specialist material.
2012 sees a change in the Windflower venture as we seek to supply the needs of individuals, churches and communities in the South West who have lost their own local Christian Bookshops.
From a small start we hope to develop a system of bespoke bookselling tailored to the specific needs of each community we are working with. We are in the process of negotiating our first sites for enhanced bookstalls in local churches. Keep checking our blog, our Facebook page (Windflower Books) or our Twitter feed (windflowerbooks) for further details…
If you live in the South West and would like Richard to provide bookstall services for your church, do give him a shout: full contact details are available on the facebook page; and if you live further away, just hit that facebook Like button anyway to cheer him on.
Richard, I salute you: may the Lord bless you richly in this venture, and may your bookstalls be many and more popular than you can even begin to imagine.
CONGRATULATIONS TO CWR on their recent appointment of Roger Compton as their UK Retail Merchandiser for dated, seasonal and core titles — and congratulations to Roger himself, too, of course!
CWR is pleased to inform you that Roger Compton has been appointed as CWR’s UK Retail Merchandiser for dated, seasonal and core titles. As many of you will know, Roger has long-standing experience in sales to the specialist Christian retail sector, having worked for the past 12 years with STL Distribution, latterly Trust Media Distribution.
This is a fixed term appointment, designed to maximise the sales and visibility of our dated and seasonal ranges particularly in the busy autumn period and then beyond to Lent and Easter. Roger will complement the excellent work of our three existing contracted sales reps (from Joining the Dots plus Stewart Anderson) and Roger will work mainly in London, the South-east and the Midlands. I’m sure that many of you will be pleased to see Roger again on the patch!
CWR’s recent range of eBooks is available to trade customers via Gardners Digital Warehouse and Gardlink for Windows. There are five titles (see below) + five dated notes (including Every Day with Jesus) in both Kindle & ePub format.
One Step Beyond (Gram Seed, 9781853455896)
What to Say When People Need Help (Selwyn Hughes, 9781853456640)
Thanks to Steve Mitchell for pointing me in the direction of Wesley Owen’s impressive range of 7.5k ebooks, wesleyowen.com/ebooks, alongside their own dedicated app and helpfulDevice Advice page.
On the celebrations front, this is this blog’s 500th post, so a huge thank you to everyone who has contributed to the project’s development and success over the past few years: rejoicing with those who rejoice, weeping with those who mourn, and praying constantly along the way.
Guest posts are always welcome, from authors, booksellers, publishers, suppliers and other commentators: please contact me if you’d like to contribute…
CONGRATULATIONS to Melanie and her minions at Unicorn Tree Books, Lincoln, on their 5th birthday this week: on Tuesday, August 16th, to be precise. Melanie writes:
Today is our 5th Birthday, we’ve seen an awful lot of change in those five years not only in Unicorn Tree Books (& Crafts) but in the economy, in the market and in the booktrade and we are happy to say we are still here and smiling widely!
We’ve drunk a lot of Caramel Latte’s [sic], shifted a lot of units, re-arranged how many times and seen our minions fledge and go off to found their own businesses – this bookshop boss thinks that’s one heck of an achievement and to celebrate is having a venti caramel latte today!
However I know we wouldn’t be here still today if it wasn’t for all you lovely customers and I want to say the biggest and most heartfelt THANK YOU! to all of you.
You make each day different, fun and, hey, maybe even a little more crazy than it would be even with the bookshop boss in attendance anyway – so thank you.
Read on to find out how they’re celebrating: the word ‘discount’ may tempt you…
Update, 22/08/2011: For more info on the post-NCT situation, see this statement by the Revd Phil Jump, Chair of the Living Oasis Liverpool Steering Committee, posted on facebook, 12/08/2011: Living Oasis Liverpool UPDATE
After NCT: Living Oasis Liverpool press on with the vision
Many of you may have heard that in August 2011, Nationwide Christian Trust, the originators of the Living Oasis vision, were placed into liquidation. This is sad news and will be a particular disappointment to those who worked so hard to develop a national chain of Living Oasis stores.
The Liverpool store has always enjoyed a strong local support base, and has an effective local management team in place. NCT have done everything they can to enable the local team to take over sole responsibility for the store, and we are currently engaged in a number of conversations and negotiations to allow that to happen.
While there is much to be done, we remain confident that if we can retain the existing premises, the eventual opening of the store remains a very realistic possibility. Sadly there will be inevitable delays, as we cannot proceed further with the physical outfit until various legalities are completed.
We will continue to work hard to develop the Liverpool store as an independant [sic] coffee house, bookstore and centre for Christian life and mission.
Living Oasis Liverpool on facebook: Page | Profile
At the time of writing no further news about the insolvency or the status of the remaining stores (Harrogate and Watford) appears to have been released. The official Living Oasis Locations map and page are now blank, simply showing ‘No records found’, although the latest video, featuring Andy Twilley at the Watford store, is still available on youtube:
Introducing Life: Weston-super-Mare’s new Christian Bookshop
A WARM AND HEARTFELT UKCBD WELCOME to Life, Weston-super-Mare’s new Christian bookshop, which opened this week on the site of the former Living Oasis and Wesley Owen bookshops:
“Life” is the name of Weston’s new independent Christian bookshop, it is based at 13 The Centre where Living Oasis and Wesley Owen were located previously.
Here at “Life” we will aim to be more than a book shop. Yes we will be selling books, cards and gifts, as well as daily Bible reading notes etc. But this is not our sole purpose.
We would like “Life” to be a place in town where Christians can meet each other over a cup of tea or coffee for prayer, study groups or discussion.
“Life” provides a haven where Christians involved in the many and varied activities which make up church life can find encouragement and build one another up.
We want Christians to be able to meet one another and share their ideas, dreams and visions for their area, town and life, on common ground; because we believe that everyone has something to offer in the body of Christ. If we can get together on any and all levels and share what works and what doesn’t, encouraging each other, just imagine what could happen in our churches, our town, our nation…
Update, 07/10/2011: With regret, I am no longer able to commend either of Helen’s groups to readers of this blog. The links have therefore been removed. For more information about this matter, please contact me and I’ll be happy to explain privately.
HELEN McCABE has launched a new facebook group, Christian Bookshops UK, as a follow on to conversations held at this year’s Christian Resources Together. Helen explains:
I created the group after going to CRT earlier in the year as a few things become obvious to me:
Some people have some really good ideas on how to promote their bookshop in their local community which bookshops could take advantage of.
Using social media tools like FB can be great for getting involved in the community but some people just need a bit of help with how to use it.
I’m very keen on supporting our local Christian bookshops and I would like to give some general marketing help on how businesses can grow their bookshop locally in addition to some guidance on using tools like FB.
Helen also runs another group, Facebook Church UK, and says she’s happy for bookshops to share local news there as well, “as long as it doesn’t become a sales group.”
Sales down at Beacon Books, Llandudno
Wales Online 15/08/2011 - 'exceptionally difficult times'
At Kingdom Crafts [sic], manager Marian Whitaker says the store has been down £200 per week since the start of 2011.
Over the summer the position has worsened with the fair trade goods store and Christian bookshop seeing its takings plummet by £400 per week on last year.
Mrs Whitaker, whose store is on Madoc Street, which runs parallel to Llandudno’s high street, said trading conditions at the shop have been almost as challenging as at any point since it opened 10 years ago.
Mrs Whitaker said: “I think people cannot afford to come on holiday in the way that they did. And I think local people are shopping more online because they can get things cheaper.”
Eastbourne Herald, 15/08/2011: 'Things are looking up'
IN SHARP CONTRAST to the situation faced by retailers in Wales, the Eastbourne Herald features Bob Clark, who took over at Eastbourne’s Christian Resource Centreearlier this year, describing better sales than ever:
Pause for Thought with Ray Dadswell: Things are looking up
Published on Monday 15 August 2011 11:03
When so many businesses, large and small, are closing their doors, it is good to know of a local bookshop celebrating success.
Bob Clark took over management of the Eastbourne Christian Resource Centre at the beginning of 2011 and records many encouragements over the past few months.
“A particular highlight is that Bible sales are increasing dramatically, now that we have a wider choice. The same is happening with commentaries, dictionaries and concordances, all of which have been brought to the ground floor. Bible notes, too, are growing in sales, as we have a wider range and easier-view display.”
There are areas of the ministry which Bob is keen to improve.
“Communication with our ministers and pastors; our service to churches in other towns, for example, Hastings and St Leonards, Bexhill, Seaford; and the availability of ‘collectable and hard-to-find’ books, located on the first floor, which is a real treasure trove!”
LAST BUT FAR FROM LEAST, please pray for members of staff at a number of Wesley Owen bookshops who are facing redundancy as Koorong (which took over the Wesley Owen brand and eight stores in the wake of Biblica’s bungling in 2009) streamlines its UK business operations and seeks to maintain a viable business model following the implementation of new systems and central purchasing.
Steve Mitchell, Retail Director, and himself a survivor of the Biblica fallout, explains:
There are 6 people being made redundant. All of them are still working, but will leave over the next few weeks and months. Even though this is a horrible process, I am completely committed to doing this with integrity, I have met with all the staff in the shops affected, explaining what we are doing and why.
Our new systems are now fully in place and working well, so the roles and requirements for our staff teams are changing. We have implemented central purchasing so new people have joined in Milton Keynes to support Authentic & Wesley Owen, so we have been moving our staff from admin to customer service, so these changes are about aligning staff rotas with customers.
The High Street is still a very tough place to be, and whilst we are seeing good sales growth in a difficult time, we also have to have a viable business model.
We asked the shops for their input, and asked them to create the new staff rotas rather than impose it. I have met one on one with each member of staff who is going, and in fact I’m travelling this week to a branch with 2 people leaving expressly to thank them for all their hard work, and ensure they leave at least feeling respected.
Inevitably there will be unhappy people who will want to vent their feelings, that’s understandable, and I feel it’s right that I hear their voice.
London: CLC are relocating in central London, from Holborn Viaduct to Ave Maria Lane (photos below), just a stone’s throw from St Paul’s Cathedral. The Holborn Viaduct lease still has some time to run so they are currently trading from both locations, with the Holborn store focusing on remainders and Book Aid:
CLC Bookshop
3-4 Ave Maria Lane (nr Ludgate Hill)
LONDON EC4M 7AQ
020 7248 2356
Opening times: Mon – Weds, Fri & Sat, 10.00am – 5.30pm; Thurs, 10.00am – 7.30pm
From the little I know about them, commercial leases are a pain to negotiate, a pain to sign off and a pain when they end. The middle bit isn’t always a smooth ride either. The economic downturn had converted the area around us into a wasteland on Holborn Viaduct, right in the City, and had accelerated the decline in our sales. Many have lost their jobs, firms have relocated or downsized and there just wasn’t the footfall past our shop that there used to be. So, what to do when our 20 year lease would expire in June 2012? After much prayer and heart-searching, the CLC Trustees had to decide: take out a new lease in the same location if we were offered it, find an alternative location in central London or move out to the suburbs…? In the end it was decided that we should do everything we could to retain our ministry in central London and secure premises now rather than wait longer and suffer the uncertainty of trying to find somewhere suitable. Yes, we are still covering costs on Holborn Viaduct, thank the Lord, but knowing there is so much potential out there and you’re not reaching it is demoralising over time. So, in faith the Trustees decided we should go for it, take the plunge and trust the Lord for sufficient sales in both locations to cover our costs.
Until such time as our lease expires or we are released from it by the landlord (please, Lord), we have two shops in central London. A sort of CLC Inverness situation where we continue with two leases (think back to March) but on a bigger scale…
After a frantic scramble, long hours by our very committed staff and volunteers and countless hitches (not all of our making) the stores opened to the public on Tuesday 9th August. Our Holborn Viaduct store was closed for just two days while the stock was moved and then displayed; from its ground floor we are now selling remainders and Book Aid materials. We were already selling Book Aid’s secondhand books on the lower-ground floor; they now have more space upstairs at ground level and in return provide someone every day to work in the shop. Existing shop staff provide the additional cover. The shop opens Monday to Friday only. Saturday long ago ceased being a busy day, which is amazing when you consider it used to be our busiest day of the week! Our valued customers, besides finding some bargains, are directed to the new location and this is less than a ten-minute walk away. Our prayer is that they will all make that journey, and use both stores!
For the third time in our history we are very near St Paul’s Cathedral. In fact, we are within 250 metres of the steps. It is already thrilling to see the difference in footfall, praise the Lord. We are just off Ludgate Hill in a short street called Ave Maria Lane and which becomes Warwick Lane (just next to Paternoster Square and Amen Corner!!!).
At the time of writing there are still some jobs unfinished. There have been complications with phone lines, computers… you name it. And there’s no shop sign yet. Those who know the Holborn Viaduct store won’t be surprised at this; we were not allowed to have a very visible sign there at all, which didn’t help things very much. But we have already made a good many people happy (those who work nearby particularly) and we look forward to welcoming customers old and new into our much smaller (but no less expensive) bookshop and providing them with the items they need. Likewise we hope to meet the spiritual needs of the tourists who abound in the area, both through sales and engaging with them in conversation as and when possible.
Manager Petra Nemansky says,
It is really great to see customers finding us already in the first few days, both “old” ones and also some new ones who are absolutely delighted that we are there for them. There is a huge amount of work ahead of us still but a very BIG thanks is due to all who have worked to make it possible thus far! That includes those behind the scenes in prayer – we really appreciate it!
CLC London: New premises at Ave Maria Lane (outside)
CLC London: New premises at Ave Maria Lane (inside)
Leicester: CLC Leicester is preparing to relocate from Belvoir Street to the former SPCK premises on Bishop Street, vacated earlier this year when Christian Resources Leicester moved to St Martin’s House in the Cathedral Square. More details to follow…
Farewell to Fools
Saddened to report another Christian bookshop closure: Fools, Upminster, has ceased trading:
Fools has now ceased trading...
BRF Job Vacancy: Guidelines Commissioning Editor
Jobs at BRF and Eden
BRF are looking for a new commissioning editor for Guidelines, one of their range of daily devotionals. Could it be you? Closing date for applications, August 26th: full details.
Eden have a range of vacancies available, from Development Managers for specific departments (Children’s, Music & DVD, Bible & Bible Study and Christian Life) through Online Copywriters to Web Designers, with more opportunities coming up over the next year or so.
“Timing,” explains Gareth Mulholland, Eden’s founder and MD, “is not set in stone as we’d rather have the right person onboard” — but if you think your face might fit, the sooner you contact him, the better: full details.
Roger Compton leaves TMD
Regular readers will have noted Andrew Jenkins’ indignant comments (Feedback, August 4, 2011) about Roger Compton’s recent departure from TMD in the latest round of redundancies. I invited TMD to clarify the situation. Pete Barnsley, TMD’s Marketing Director, explains:
Roger is a great guy and has worked for the organization for 12 years, initially working in Wesley Owen Wigmore Street before joining the sales team when an opportunity arose. He is well respected and liked both within the Company and amongst customers.
However the economic realities we are facing are impacting TM Distribution in much the same way as many others in our trade and we have had to make painful decision to secure the future of the organization. Job losses far from being a knee jerk reaction are only contemplated once other options have been tried (for example, attempts to increase sales through promotions and looking at other forms of cost saving).
The personal cost to the individual is not taken lightly. We have lost a number of posts across the company from folk working in the warehouse to senior managers, all areas have been affected.
We understand that Roger’s role is high profile in the trade and attracts a lot of attention, but in terms of why Roger; it is more to do with the location of the individuals within the sales team. If we have to cutback, and lose someone from the sales team then the territory where we could make adjustments and protect the service level to customer was Roger’s current territory. It is anticipated that tele-sales initiatives will be launched to complement visits from the Trust Media Sales Team on a less frequent basis within this territory. It is our intention to improve the frequency of contact and level of service to accounts as a consequence.
Roger has acted with understanding and dignity, as you would expect in the entire process and I really want to reiterate as we have been at pains to point out to all individuals affected, that these actions have been taken to secure the long term financial viability of the Company and should not be construed as a reflection on the contributions of any of those affected. We will miss Roger.
Roger Compton, you’re a rock: I salute you and take this opportunity to thank you for all your encouragement and support during my tenure as LST’s Bookshop Manager. May the Lord bless you, strengthen you, and make his way for you clear during these difficult times.
Social Media Update
Social media: it’s about much more than inciting teenagers to riot, and a few new kids have joined us on the block over the last month or so. Catch up with them here:
SPCK are twittering @SPCKPublishing: tweets by their new Publicist, Holly Thompson, who I’m reliably informed is on standby to welcome us, answer queries and direct us to reviews, articles and author media, as well as entertain us with “her appalling Friday jokes(!)” — follow at your own risk!
Shout out in the comments if you’re twitbooking and haven’t received a mention…
Special Offers around the Shops
And finally, to whet the appetites of any readers who haven’t visited their local Christian bookshop recently, a couple of special offers…
Quench are offering £1 off every Hillsong CD plus a free CD with every Hillsong purchase. The freebie is a an eight-track compilation album from all the Hillsong groups including Chapel, Kids, Live and United: pop along to your nearest Quench shop and grab one while you can!
Use them or lose them: being part of a chain is no guarantee of security for any shop in today’s economic climate; and if you, gentle reader, represent any other Christian bookshop, please feel free to post details of your latest deals in the comments here…
GOT NEWS? If you have news you’d like to share about your shop or staff, please leave a comment or contact me direct to be included in the next News Roundup…
THIS YEAR sees both the UK Christian Bookshops Directory and The Good Bookstall celebrating our tenth anniversaries: UKCBD was launched 10 years ago this month, in February 2001, whilst TGB was launched 10 years ago next month, March 2001 — and what an amazing 10 years it’s been!
We’ve seen STL expand its territory, Prayer-of-Jabez style, only to see the whole edifice here in the UK come tumbling down when they did a builder-who-didn’t-count-the-cost routine; we’ve seen the destruction of the SPCK Bookshops chain in the hands of the gruesome twosome, Messrs Phil and Mark Brewer; we’ve seen dozens of independent bookshop closures; and we’ve seen Christian Marketplace go from being a monthly independent magazine to a bi-monthly, surviving only as a subsidiary of another giant, the Premier Christian media empire.
We’ve also seen the phenomenal rise of online Christian bookseller Eden.co.uk, the emergence of the ebook and yet — in the face of all these challenges — many shops rising, phoenix-like, from the ashes of those destructions, an important reminder if ever we needed one that God isn’t interested in our ambitions and empires, no matter how much we persuade ourselves that it’s God’s kingdom we’re building — because our God, the God we meet in Jesus, isn’t ultimately found in huge presences or high profiles but is revealed rather in small and hidden things, babies born in poverty, bookshops in backstreets and market halls, and bookstalls at the back of forgotten churches. We strive for ‘Mission on the High Street’ but God calls us to mission wherever we are, with whatever we have.
5 Quid for Life
At UKCBD, I’m celebrating 10 years with a simple commitment: over the next year a minimum of 10% of all UKCBD income will be donated to the new up-and-coming charity 5 Quid for Life: A Mental Health Safety Net. It’s a project that I’ve been privileged to be part of from the outset, emerging out of a friend’s desperation as she poured out her heart over the disruption the current government’s changes to the UK benefits system would have on her. If you haven’t already done so, read about it here: Welcome to 5 Quid for Life; and if you’d like to make a donation, you can do so here: 5quidforlife.org.uk/#donate
THANK YOU to Wesley Owen Birmingham for letting me know about their commentaries sale: 25% off all commentaries; but anyone wanting a slice of the cake needs to move fast — offer ends tomorrow, Saturday 26th February. Available from all branches and online too!
Meanwhile congratulations are due to the inimitable David Chant, former WO Birmingham branch manager, who has moved on into ‘semi-retirement’ from where he should be able to spend a little more time promoting Planet BB. Have you ordered your stock yet? David’s itching to hear from you…
THE ARK is a Christian Bookshop and Café which opened its doors in 2004 and has gone on to serve the local community and churches ever since, but owner Ginny Ayling now wishes to retire and hand on the business to someone else: sale price £325,000, Freehold. Could that someone be you or someone you know?
The shop is well loved and supported by the local people. Describing the shop, the Revd Peter Salisbury, Vicar of Lymington, said:
The Ark is an important part of the Christian outreach in Lymington and is an excellent central meeting place. All the volunteers are from the local churches and the bookshop gives advice and an ordering service, which we use for our personal and church orders. The Café, which is always buzzing at lunchtime, has a very high reputation and offers friendly and personal service plus gorgeous food – I’m usually in there about once a week!
Download the Particulars of Sale or an A4 Sale Poster (both pdfs) if you’d like to know more or would like to help promote the sale.
CARDIFF CHRISTIAN BOOKSHOP is currently owned and operated by the Evangelical Movement of Wales, who have reluctantly concluded that they can no longer support the shop. From the shop’s February Prayer Letter:
The Evangelical Movement of Wales has decided most reluctantly that it must bring its support of the Cardiff Christian Bookshop to an end. This is most regrettable since it has been such a witness in the heart of the city for almost 50 years. It is, however, very keen that the work and witness should continue and would actively invite Churches and other interested Christian groups to assume responsibility for it and to come forward with proposals for its future operation. The Movement is continuing to own and support the shop in the short term and the business will continue to function as usual.
The business costs around £55,000 per year to run in terms of staffing, rent and other expenses: download the February Prayer Letter (pdf) if you’d like to know more.
More Than Another Day of Prayer
8 Days of Prayer: Launching a Season of Prayer for Christian Retail in the UK (pdf, 90kb)
JOY MCILROY of Ashburnham Books has been busy liaising with Clem Jackson at Christian Marketplace to draw up plans for another Day of Prayer for the trade — but this year it’s more than a day of prayer: the vision is for a season of prayer to run through Lent, starting on Ash Wednesday, 9th March. Announcement here: Day of Prayer for Christian Trade.
The announcement suggests sharing plans via the Christian Authors, Booksellers and Publishers facebook group. Should you choose to do so, please note that that is a closed group, set up specifically to facilitate discussion within the trade away from the public eye — in other words, not the best forum to use if you wish to engage with others beyond the trade…
As with previous occasions I’ll be updating this site’s Day of Prayer page with news and updates as and when they emerge: please do feel free to post details of any plans there and to point members of the general public in that direction.
2010: how was it for you? The question’s a little premature, of course: we’ve still got a few days to go. But from a web stats perspective, here’s how it’s been in this little corner of the blogosphere, with the top ten posts as follows, set out as post date, title, page views.
Two stories have clearly dominated: the rise of Living Oasis following last year’s collapse of Wesley Owen, and the shenanigans over Kingsway’s pricing practices. Thankfully, of course, Kingsway came to their senses before it became necessary to refer the matter to the OFT, but I must confess that I found the whole episode deeply disheartening and have yet to understand how a Christian organisation could treat both government guidelines and its trading partners with such contempt: a very strange attitude indeed.
As for Living Oasis, the questions I raised a few weeks ago about their future plans remain open. Andy Twilley has stated that he will “happily give [any enquirers] the actual position” but has yet to actually do so openly. The apparent plan to grow the business “by a minimum of 20 sites each year” seems an idealistic fantasy at best but until such time as Living Oasis are willing to speak more freely of their game plan the rest of us can only watch and wonder.
The post stats tell only part of the story, of course. The top five pages over the past year are:
It's not just Wesley Owen: Living Words, Seaford, is now trading online-only: "The shop has now closed..." http://t.co/WgtVrlf810 hours ago
Plea from Ichthus Christian Books to support local shops "under threat from supermarkets and internet shopping" http://t.co/sTT5ra4W1 day ago
Losing printed books is having social repercussions as drastic and far-reaching as the invention of the printing press: http://t.co/RGUDQaCw2 days ago
RT @notbovvered: Great to discover the Triangle, Farnborough's, 10th Birthday party photo album: another 2001 startup, like UKCBD... htt ... 4 days ago
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