After having announced iBelieve. com, its "Christian lifestyle" Internet venture, at this summer's CBA International Convention, Family Christian Stores officially launched the site on September 27 and confirmed an investment of $30 million dollars. Capital for the site comes from Madison Dearborn Partners, the Chicago-based private equity firm that is the major shareholder in Family's 335 brick-and-mortar stores. Madison Dearborn's initial investment will cover the site's first year, but the firm is committed to the venture for the long term, according to Benjamin Chereskin, a managing director at the firm.
The site will offer what iBelieve.com president Jef Fite calls "the three C's--content, community and commerce." Planned offerings include Christian-oriented programming, interactive channels, community outreach, events and e-commerce through Family Christian Stores. Though the site is only in its initial stages, iBelieve.com has signed contracts with several Christian ministries and organizations to provide content. The site is expected to be fully functional no later than January, according to Fite.
The site's commerce division will be able to offer more products than Family's physical stores, said Leslie Dietzman, Family's president and CEO, who will also be CEO of the new site. "We will have 70,000“100,000 different items available online, and we just couldn't possibly carry that in our typical Family store."
Family also announced several appointments to iBelieve.com's staff, to be based in Grand Rapids, Mich., Family's hometown. John Nardini joins as chief customer officer; he was previously v-p of marketing for Chordant Distribution Group. Allen Arnold, formerly senior v-p of marketing at Word Publishing, will be the venture's chief content officer.
