Attendance at CBA Expo—the trade show component of the Association of Evangelical Christian Retailers' winter meeting, held Jan. 29—Feb. 2 in Indianapolis—was down more than 20% from the previous year, to 1,091. CBA president Bill Anderson said the association will be examining reasons for the decline over the next few days.
Attendance at Expo has been trending downward over the past five years, and exhibitor numbers also have been falling steadily, from 274 in 2002 to 191 this year. There is rampant grumbling among publishers about the need for two annual trade shows (the larger show is held every summer). One industry insider, who spoke off the record, said, "If one of the major publishers breaks ranks and doesn't come, there's going to be a mass exodus."
Some houses, like Group Publishing, were absent this year, and others chose to come in a diminished capacity. Harper San Francisco sent only one staffer—sales manager Jeff Hobbs—and did not have its own booth, instead choosing to rep its books with sister company Zondervan. Hobbs saw it as a chance to enjoy cost savings while also strengthening Harper's relationship with Zondervan. He reported that Harper will have "a full presence at the international show."
For its part, Zondervan ramped up its attention to the booth this year, moving key meetings out of the usual off-site hospitality suite and onto the show floor. "One of the ways we're trying to support CBA is to have all of our team members more exposed within the show floor area," said Zondervan CEO Doug Lockhart. Although Lockhart said he was "somewhat disappointed in the trends" toward decreased attendance at Expo, he affirmed that Zondervan will continue to support the show.
Thomas Nelson also had a traditional display, but CEO Mike Hyatt said the company discussed not having a booth at all, and just sending staff to walk the floor and have meetings. "In the end we decided to either support it by exhibiting or not come at all," Hyatt said.
Asked about CBA's determination to keep the winter show going, Anderson said, "If the retailers tell us they don't want it, we'll end it. But they haven't done that." Retailer Becky Gorzycka of the Logos Bookstore Association said, "I hope it doesn't go away. We need this show, for restocking after Christmas and for spring products. I find it very valuable."
CBA currently represents 2,055 member Christian stores. Store attrition slowed in 2006—286 Christian stores closed, compared to 337 in 2005, and there were 589 store openings in 2006 (compared to 437 in 2005). According to the state of the industry survey conducted by CBA in January, 48.4% of Christian retailers said their sales were up in 2006, while 40.9% said sales were down. For 2007, 77% of stores predicted that sales will increase, and 67% said they expect to be more profitable.
Christian book sales overall were down last year (by amounts ranging from 1% to nearly 20%, depending on whose data you believe)—the result, publishers said, of the lack of a new blockbuster along the lines of The Purpose-Driven Life. But sales were slightly up in general trade bookstores, demonstrating continued potential for growth through that channel.
Mark Kuyper, president of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association, also noted the trend toward trimmed-down lists at ECPA houses: while 2005 saw some 7,500 books being released by member publishers, the figure for 2006 was 5,900. "Most of our publishers are trying to figure out how to get more out of fewer books," he said.
