Publishers, Booksellers Are Upbeat At Fifth CBA Expo
Lynn Garrett, reporting by H. Carrigan -- 2/23/98
Sailing off another strong Christmas, evangelical Christian retailers from 47 states and seven countries met January 27-31 at the Nashville Convention Center for the Christian Booksellers Association (CBA) Expo, the association's smaller winter show.
Overall attendance (5629) bested last year (5329), though fewer buying stores were represented (1461 vs. last year's 1564), which perhaps reflects the continuing absorption of smaller independents into chains. Though some of the controversies and hot themes that spiced recent shows seemed to have shifted into neutral, exhibitors and retailers alike told PW they did solid business. John O'Dell, owner of the 15-year-old independent Family Books and Gifts in Harrison, Ark. (along with two other stores in Conway and Rodgers), told PW he did lots of buying at Expo, "I can spend more time talking with publishers and other exhibitors about products" than at the larger CBA International (this year in Dallas, July 11-16).
Publishers were also upbeat. Judson Press's advertising and promotions specialist Mark Wiragh noted he reached his sales goal at 9:30 a.m. on Thursday after a "very busy" Wednesday. "This show is very businesslike," he said. Judson's African American line was selling "extremely well," he said, echoing sentiments of other publishers of African American materials and confirming an increased presence of African American retailers at Expo.
Better merchandising was foremost in the minds of many publishers. Noting the impact of just-in-time on the entire industry, Zondervan director of Bible marketing John Sawyer said this year the company wants to develop a program of intensive merchandising support, "to sell smaller, but with better sell-through." The company expects to roll the program out by fall, said marketing director Mark Rice. Zondervan also joined with NelsonWord and Books-A-Million to develop a boutiquing concept called the Testament Shoppes (see PW's Religion Update supplement, March 16).
In another example of cooperation between competitors, InterVarsity Press spearheaded a new Thoughtful Books promotional catalogue, featuring titles from some 20 publishers. According to IVP marketing manager Greg Metzger, a first printing of 150,000 sold out to 25 stores immediately.
After trying to do without sales reps at last year's International in Atlanta, Nelson recognized its mistake and brought a full sales staff to Expo, with plans to do the same in Dallas. "Smaller stores and new accounts weren't serviced," said Nelson's director of telemarketing, Barbara James.
New or renewed children's publishing efforts were everywhere at Expo. Baker Book House reported strong sales for its Kids New Media line, launched last March, which includes books and software. The first seven products sold 45,000 units in the eight months after the launch, according to Baker president Dwight Baker, "we were quite pleased, software is the most significant hesitation for CBA stores." Broadman &Holman announced the launch of a new children's imprint, as yet unnamed, to be headed by children's brand manager Dee Ann Grand, formerly with Turner's Bedrock Entertainment Network. First releases will come in March.
The CBA held brainstorming sessions at Expo for a new initiative to help publishers work with retailers on more effective merchandising of children's product. "The industry has been too focused on format, rather than age group, and stores need to be more kid-friendly," said CBA president Bill Anderson.
Following a rough transition in 1997 after Ingram's acquisition of Spring Arbor Distributors-with both publishers and booksellers reporting a variety of problems-Spring Arbor president Larry Carpenter told PW, "the integration of two different software systems was hard. Now our fill rates are back up, and the feedback indicates the problems are behind us." He was also quick to point out that, "Religion is still the hottest category we know of at Ingram. Our growth was 40% in 1997, sales through CBA stores have gone up 20-25% during that period."
Also enjoying success were the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association's five-year-old regional trade shows, held during January in Orlando, Fla., Dallas, Hershey, Pa., Raleigh-Durham, N.C., Chicago and Ontario, Calif. According to special projects coordinator Daryl Ridgley, they attracted a record number of buying stores, more than 600 of them for the first time. CBA president Anderson told PW that CBA stores enjoyed average growth in 1997 of 14%, and growth for the Christmas season of more than 16%.
Taking a page from the milk and beef industries, CBA has created a 30-second TV spot it will test in the coming months. "What we want to achieve is institutional positioning, rather than promoting specific products," said Anderson.
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