With bankruptcy behind them, Family Christian Stores executives are looking forward to bringing the largest Christian retailer back to profitability. Senior v-p of human resources Steve Biondo, who has been with FCS for 12 years, said mending relations with vendors is the company's first course of action.

“Our priority is to repair and rebuild relationships with the vendor community, they are the ones who have been hurt the most,” he told PW. “We have been traveling and meeting with them, agreeing on how to go on the market together and get inventory moving again.”

In-store excellence, clear branding, and an “aggressive plan” for sales around Thanksgiving and Christmas also rank highly on FCS’ list of priorities. In the coming months, FCS will unveil its “buying here helps here” campaign, to highlight people and places that receive aid from the non-profit company. “We are not for profit, all for purpose,” said Biondo.

Despite emerging from bankruptcy, FCS still faces the potential closing of nine to 12 of its 264 locations. Biondo confirmed that FCS has a shortlist of stores that could be shuttered, but he said executives are working diligently with landlords and store managers on how to increase traffic in hopes of keeping them open.

Family Christian, which Biondo said is in the process of hiring a new chief marketing officer, is also expanding its focus on e-commerce. While it will not be going after after e-book sales in any overt way at this time, it is attempting to sell more products via the Internet. Top line sales have suffered because of online shopping, and FCS is hoping a selection of on-trend products and faster delivery of products purchased online will help. “We are expecting nice gains in book sales as we revamp our in-store and on-line book marketing plans,” said Biondo. “We are rolling out new initiatives for books as we speak; just not e-books.”