The Christian Booksellers Association held its winter show February 2—5 in Indianapolis, its third consecutive year in that location. Formerly called CBA Expo, the show was renamed CBA Advance and reconfigured in response to grumbling about the costs and necessity of two annual trade shows, both of which are longer than most other book shows.
For the second year, the meeting began with Independents Day, actually two days (February 2—3), devoted to "professional and spiritual growth," with a slate of educational sessions and special events. The first major change this year was that the show did not run through a weekend—a fact many exhibitors expressed appreciation for—and the floor did not open until Tuesday, February 3, at 5 p.m., closing at 9 p.m. According to CBA president Bill Anderson, "Initially, there was a mixed response to this idea, but it did allow exhibitors to get in, get things done and get the lay of the land. I think it made the show more efficient—there were no competing events, and there was three hours less exhibit time that day." Several exhibitors told PW that the evening opening did seem to be a hit with retailers, bringing a festive air to the show floor in the opening hours.
The second major change was that CBA's Future of the Industry conference immediately followed the show, running from Friday morning until midday Saturday. That meeting, for members only, was previously held in April, necessitating yet another trip and round of travel expenses for participants. This year's strategy did draw more participants to FOI—314 (44% of them retailers) versus last year's 125 (20% retailers).
Despite these changes, show numbers were down again this year. In 2003, there were 1,880 "professional attendees" (total attendance minus exhibitor personnel and youth); this year there were only 1,536. Buyer attendance fell 5%, to 589. Total attendees fell 17%, to 3,861, and there were 221 exhibitors (259 in 2003). Show floor area was reduced by 20%, with just 535 spaces compared to 663 in 2003; exhibitor staffing was also down by 20%.
Christian retailers face serious challenges these days, not just the tough economy but also competition from chain bookstores, big-box stores and warehouse clubs that all now offer the bestselling Christian product and enjoy economies of scale the specialty stores cannot match. Asked about attrition, Anderson told PW there were 244 "unique store" closings last year, 21 of them CBA member stores. "These were mostly small, marginal stores," he said, adding that the association had gained 286 new members in 2003, "though those are not necessarily new stores." (CBA now counts 2,370 member stores, down 6% from last year.) CBA's own research showed half of its member stores had sales decreases in 2003. Still, after a rough first three quarters, sales in the all-important fourth quarter rose substantially.
Also challenging the winter CBA show is the success of the 11-year-old regional trade shows operated by the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA), which began this year with the Greensboro, N.C., show, January 6—8, and concluded in Riverside, Calif., January 19—21. Sites in between were Hershey, Pa.; Chicago; Orlando, Fla.; and Arlington, Tex. A total of 690 stores were represented at this year's shows, a gain of 7%. The small, tabletop shows are inexpensive for exhibitors and free for buyers; ECPA also reimburses a portion of booksellers' travel and lodging expenses.
The loudest buzz at Advance was generated by a screening of Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ. Although the film will not hit theaters until February 25 (Ash Wednesday), booksellers and exhibitors were treated to a private screening on the last night of the show. (Media, including PW, were barred from the event.) A number of books with tie-in potential were in evidence on the show floor, but only one of them—Tyndale House's coffee-table hardcover The Passion: Photography from the Movie "The Passion of the Christ"—is an official and authorized companion volume to the film. The book is due in March and features a brief foreword by Gibson.
Nelson Eyes ABA Business
Last month, Thomas Nelson announced a reorganization of its publishing business into three book groups (News, Jan. 5), and Michael Hyatt was at Advance in his new role as president and COO of Thomas Nelson Inc. Asked if that indicated an even more aggressive move into the general trade, Hyatt said, "We've always been segmented. But we will be signaling such a move very soon. Sales in the CBA market are flat to modest, and that's not where we see potential. Our growth in the ABA has been tremendous." Last year, the house had six New York Times bestsellers—a first for Nelson. "We have virtually no debt, and we are looking for acquisitions," Hyatt said.
Also enjoying success in the wake of a recent reorganization is Cook Communications, which last year made major acquisitions and re-branded into six imprints. "The strategy is working," said publicist Tom Beard. "Sales last year were not what we were expecting, but we are still ahead in gross margin." Cook is expanding editorial and increasing title output in 2004. Cook's new strategy to support Christian retailers is the NexGen bookstore program, with stores taking over Cook's church accounts. It has had a successful rollout, Beard said: "We're getting tremendous positive feedback."
Another major CBA house with reason to be happy is Zondervan, which continues to enjoy the historic run of The Purpose-Driven Life by Rick Warren, which has sold 12.3 million copies (one million of them in January alone) and shows no signs of slowing. Zondervan CEO Bruce Ryskamp told PW that 3,000 more churches are starting 40 Days of Purpose campaigns this spring, with 6,000 to 7,000 churches expected to launch their programs in the fall. "There's no indication that it's reached its peak," Ryskamp said. In meetings with Wal-Mart and Sam's Club, their representatives told Ryskamp that they expected to sell more copies of the book in 2004 than they did in 2003—no small feat since Wal-Mart just celebrated its one-millionth sale. Ryskamp said that Zondervan has taken some of the profits from The Purpose-Driven Life and invested them in its kids' division and in Inspirio, its line of gift books and products.
The impending demise of Riverside Distributors caused barely a ripple at the show. Said Tom Torbett, president of Appalachian Distributors—probably the second largest after Ingram's Spring Arbor—"That business will be absorbed easily, and I don't expect any new competitors anytime soon. It's a good business for us, but the margins are thin." Appalachian has already seen some "nice increases" through stores defecting from Riverside, and its specialization in home-schooling materials has created a good business-within-a-business for Appalachian. "That's a $2-billion-per-year industry," Torbett noted.
Although traffic was steady on the first day and whenever authors were signing in booths, the crowds were often lackluster and publishers reported only small orders. When asked how the show had been from a sales perspective, Dwight Baker, president of Baker Books, reported, "Probably sucky." Baker said that he had cut the booth size from seven spaces last year to three this year—even though the booth now includes the presence of 2003 acquisition Bethany House—and trimmed by half the number of staff members in attendance. David Lewis, director of sales and marketing, suggested that Advance and other trade shows are relics from another era, "when people did not have computers and would come to shows to place orders and get great deals. Currently, we have a lot of reps visiting these stores, and we see them many times a year. We come to these shows to see the smaller vendors, and that certainly has some value, but I'm not sure it's enough to justify all the expense of the travel and the booth." Lewis said that when the winter show began in Nashville years ago, it was "a very significant order-writing show," but now it has become more like a conference than a convention: the publishing house gets to have "great conversations and networking opportunities," but only "minimal orders."
Despite Christian retailing's troubles, hope seems to spring eternal. Attendance this year at CBA's prospective retailer school was up—there were 79 aspiring retailers versus last year's 37.
In 2005 and 2006, CBA Advance will return to Nashville.
