Opening a bookstore

Hi everyone! My wife and I are praying about possibly starting a Christian bookstore in our area. We have a Mardel in my city but there are so many things there that are missing that I'd like to have a second Christian bookstore here. I would want to have many of the books I have on logos in this bookstore, and maybe have the books in the store sectioned by denominations (like the passage guide on logos separates it), by the different resources, possibly DVDs. Has anyone had any experience in starting a bookstore?

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JT (alabama24)

Has anyone had any experience in starting a bookstore?

No, but I have worked in three.

My honest advice: It is not a good business, and easy to lose your shirt. For <some> churches, having a small bookstore can be a good and beneficial thing.

DMB

Our town has gone thru 3.

I was an executive in big-box retail (70k employees). Chances are, you're planning a family staffed business, and your pay from product margins that are generally thin, except the more expensive book lines. With limited ability to offset with volume. You're competing with a small but experienced Christian chain, not counting Hobby Lobby, Walmart and Amazon.

Your store would have to clearly be needed. Did you do your business plan?

Rosie Perera

My mother ran a Christian bookstore + tea shop for 7 years, and it never broke even. It was a lovely place, wonderful customers and community. But ultimately it is a very difficult business. Especially now with online buying and digital books being so popular, going into business to sell physical books sounds like a recipe for pouring money down the drain. As a hobby it might be worth it for a few years. My dad got to take a tax write-off on the money my mother's store lost every year. And it was a beloved institution while it lasted. But ultimately it wasn't sustainable for very long.

If you want to read about my mother's experience receiving the vision for this bookstore, opening it, running it, and ultimately sadly having to close it, she wrote about it in a book called Quiet Corner Days. There are a couple of used copies of it available on AbeBooks.

R. Mansfield

I know that responses here are discouraging, but it's a really tough business. Over my life, I've worked in two independent Christian bookstores and one chain store, and all are out of business now.

I still remember the first store I worked in back in the late 80s. The [major Christian publisher] rep had come by to show off some new Bibles. He asked the owner why he wasn't buying as many Bibles as last time. The owner said, "Because your company gives a better discount to Walmart than you can give us, and they sell these same Bibles cheaper than what we can sell them for." And that was before Amazon which cut the legs out of all bookstores in the late 90s.

The other factor in a Christian bookstore is that you're going to have a difficult time finding an audience for serious content--assuming you want to do that kind of thing. Folks who want these types of books are going to be using Logos, ordering from Christian Book Distributors, or have access to a library. At the second independent store I worked at years ago, we stayed afloat for a while because we also carried a lot of Christian gifts (some of which, frankly, was just schlock). That and popular Christian titles that don't always have the most grounded theology.

Having said all that, I recently saw a news story that said bookstores were in a bit of a revival (I looked for the story but can't find it--sorry). The story said that even B&N was going to open 30 new stores this year. So there may be hope.

When we first got married, my wife and I used to say we'd like to retire with a coffee shop/bookstore. In recent years this hasn't seemed like such a great idea. But if your expectations were fairly low (breaking even as opposed to making huge profits, for instance), you might be able to make a go of it.

Alternatively, someone else above mentioned a church book store. If you weren't needing to tackle this venture for a living, you could always talk with your church about running a bookstore on site for when services are going on. Our church has a little "corner" bookstore, but it's strictly on the honor system. You find the price of the book on the back, and place your money in a little basket. But I've also seen some that were larger scale run by church members.

Rosie Perera

But I've also seen some that were larger scale run by church members.

My mother, prior to opening her own bookstore, had served for a number of years as the manager for a bookstore that our church ran in our town as a ministry, called The Little Bookstore. It thrived in the 70s, even expanding and moving to a bigger location. But then I suppose a downturn in serious reading among Christians (TV had taken over), among other factors, led to its ultimate demise.

DMB

Having said all that, I recently saw a news story that said bookstores were in a bit of a revival (I looked for the story but can't find it--sorry). The story said that even B&N was going to open 30 new stores this year. So there may be hope.

Last week I was watching the book section in Costco. It was proverbially being 'mobbed'. I assume those big stacks of books probably go somewhere! But I snuck up, so see what the excitable title mix was ... looks like adventure fiction. Not too much serious stuff.

My guess on B&N, plus upscale malls, is 'social' ... people need places to be around other people.

John Simpson

There is one independent Christian Bookstore in Denver that has survived by selling used books, but most of their sales are now online. https://www.christianusedbooks.net

Kevin A. Purcell

I was involved in trying to start a bookstore as part of a college to train international students that were called to ministry through a ministry of a then-friend. He turned out to be a bit of a con artist so we dropped out quickly.

That said, the bookstore was extremely hard to get going. People all said they loved the idea of a Christian bookstore since the one we had in our town shut down so many years before, but they never came because there was little incentive.

We tried to do more than just sell books. We had a coffee shop, a place for people to hang out, free Wi-Fi, and plans to do hangouts for youth, seniors, and more during the week to drive traffic. Some of that would have worked, but the con man was afraid too many would come and buy his books. He was weird.

My advice...

1. Get as much publicity at launch as you can

2. Use local churches to help promote by offering them support, training, and more.

3. Have a lot more than just books to sell. I wanted to offer people who are not tech-savvy a place they could order books online and have it either shipped to us or to their homes. And we would just charge a small helper fee like $1.00 on a ten-dollar book.

4. Have activities.

EDIT:

5. Don't partner with a con man.

DAL

Wise advice: Stay out of the “Christian Bookstore Business!” You’ll go bankrupt and lose more than your shirt 👔

DAL

Mark Smith

We had a family in our church own the local Christian bookstore (area of around 320,000 people with no other Christian bookstore around, but also in a highly unchurched area (Connecticut)).

They managed to keep it going until about eight years ago. The landlord wanted more money and they couldn't afford it.

They made what money they did mostly in gift items, wall art, greeting cards, coffee mugs, tee shirts, and the like. When the world moved from CDs to MP3s they lost a lot of profit from selling music CDs. Bibles kept selling, but not enough to fund the store. They had serious books (like you seem to be interested in) but they gathered dust. Rarely sold. They kept narrowing down their other Christian books to popular authors or themes. They never had a web presence, but I doubt that would have made much difference, but you'd need one today. People just stopped buying print books. Churches were turning to buying online rather than through them. Publishers were struggling. They cut their catalog offerings and all tried to get the same handful of authors to publish a book through them, because they were the only authors whose books seemed to sell.

Don't just follow a dream. Get a small business coach, develop a sound business plan, and have enough capital to survive at least three years before you make a profit. Or just forget the idea (which is probably what a business coach and a business plan will convince you to do).

Sorry. Christian brick and mortar bookstores are so last century. (Sadly.)

Rosie Perera

Christian brick and mortar bookstores are so last century. (Sadly.)

The three best remaining brick and mortar Christian bookstores in North America, in no particular order of quality, but in order of my connection with them and thus knowledge of their quality:

Regent College Bookstore -- Vancouver, BC (more photos) - founded in the 1970s, managed by the wonderfully knowledgeable Bill Reimer, but he's retiring soon [:(]

Observations by Bill Reimer from 2005 which remain true today:

The Regent Bookstore:

remains one of the few stores in the world, on a public university campus, that sells a wide selection of books in the area of Christian Studies.
is non-profit and is owned and operated by Regent College. All proceeds go towards the operation of Regent College programs.
is an employment centre for Regent students and their spouses.
sponsors lectures by authors and speakers.

Eighth Day Books - Wichita, KS - founded (in 1988) and managed by the inestimable Warren Farha

"Eighth Day Books is well-known within Christian intellectual and artistic circles, having been called by the writer Harold Fickett 'surely the most idealistic (and one of the best) bookstores in America'.[6] Former Dallas Morning News columnist and religion author Rod Dreher has written that Eighth Day Books is 'the best bookstore in the world'[7] and the 'Garden of Eden for Christian intellectuals–Catholic, Protestant, and Orthodox–interested in the Permanent Things'.[8] Image Journal, which invites Eighth Day Books to host a book table at its Glen Workshop each year, has dubbed Eighth Day Books the 'Miracle of Wichita'[9] and 'Heaven's Bookstore'.[10] Other conferences at which Eighth Day Books' traveling book table is a regular fixture include Calvin College's Festival of Faith and Writing,[11] Trinity Arts Conference in Dallas, Texas,[12] Notre Dame's Center for Ethics and Culture Fall Conference,[13] Baylor University's Symposium on Faith and Culture,[14] and The CIRCE Institute.[15]" (Wikipedia)

Also known for their catalog which I used to love to pore through and drool over:

Hearts & Minds Bookstore -- Dallastown, PA -- founded (in 1982) and managed by Beth & Byron Borger

They also produce the excellent blog BookNotes.

Beth & Byron were honored in a festschrift marking 40 years of being in business: A Book for Hearts & Minds: What You Should Read & Why—A Festschrift Honoring the Work of Hearts & Minds Bookstore. Contributor Stephen Garber writes that Byron Borger is the "best bookseller in America" and that he is "an apostle and evangelist for reading the best books." Os Guinness writes: "I thank God for Byron and Beth Borger—they are such solid gold people, and friends as well. Without them, many a thoughtful Christian writer would be on the endangered species list in the face of the tsunami of Big Data recommended reading. While Hearts & Minds exists, serious Christian books can live too."

All three of these bookstores also do varying degrees of online bookselling. After all, you gotta compete in an Amazon world.

Two of the above have their own publishing arm, though I'm not sure if either is still actively publishing: Regent College Publishing (quite a substantial catalog) and Eighth Day Press (only a few books).

They are all part of an endangered species.

Greg

I've thought about the same thing before, but the bleak outlook for brick and mortar bookstores turned me away. If I was rich and retired and didn't need to worry about profits, it would be fun to do. I'd build my own store and pick a town with a large Christian college or seminary so you've got a nice clientele built into the area. Fun to think about!

Obviously you have an itch you need to scratch. Have you considered other options? For example, I've considered becoming a librarian. You need a masters degree for that, but you get to around books and you can help people find what they need (along with a host of other things). If you could move around you'd probably be able to eventually get a job at a nice seminary or Christian college as a librarian. Or you can find some rich benefactor and get him to build a library and then work for him, like this place here in Houston: https://www.laniertheologicallibrary.org/

Mozzie

Not long ago here in Lynchburg there once was a Lifeway bookstore adjacent to Liberty University. Last time I passed by I noticed it was a liquor store.

From Lifeway.com:

Why is Lifeway closing its brick-and-mortar stores?

“Consumer spending patterns have changed dramatically in the last five years. Leading business analysts are calling 2019 the year of the retail apocalypse. In this context, Lifeway Christian Stores lost $19 million last year. Over the past five years, the cumulative losses of Lifeway Stores reached nearly $50 million. Our internal projections showed those losses—at the current pace—would have increased to more than $60 million per year by 2021.

Sustaining losses at this rate is poor stewardship and compromises the overall ministry of Lifeway.”

JT (alabama24)

Brick and Mortar bookstores for general audiences are gasping for air. Christian bookstores are niche, and more at risk.

A "Mardel" store (owned by Hobby Lobby) is the only remaining "Christian Book Store" in my community now. The book section is only about 25% of the store. Music is about 10. The home decor section is the largest.

DMB

A "Mardel" store (owned by Hobby Lobby) is the only remaining "Christian Book Store" in my community now. The book section is only about 25% of the store. Music is about 10. The home decor section is the largest.

Interesting. I'm also surprised how much money has to be lost, before light dawns (Lifeway, above).

Justin Gatlin

A book has a $16.99 MSRP. You can get it as a wholesaler for $8.50. Assuming you buy in some bulk, call it $10 with shipping. On Amazon, the book is probably $14.99. So if you are going to charge the same amount that they do, you have $5 a book to cover your employees, rent, insurance, utilities, and profit. If you are shipping a single book media mail, it is about $3, so now you have $2 to compete with Amazon. Unfortunately, the math is just tough. I don't even really make any money selling my own books.

Mike Childs

Sad, but true. Brick and mortar bookstores have little chance to be profitable is this day of ordering off the internet. I hate it, but it is a fact. Even public libraries are having a tough time attracting patrons.

Perhaps you might consider having an online bookstore. There are many places for an individual to sell books online. You would certainly lose less money, and you might even make a profit.

mab

I worked in a Christian bookstore. It's a tough business. A missions minded bookstore connected to a church has a chance. It's very much ministry. It's definitely not likely to be very profitable.

I have an eBay business that acts as a tentmaker for supporting my ministry/Logos library. I used to sell lots of used books on eBay. That market is much more difficult now.

Frankly, I think a lot of people, and sadly many believers, are now just not quite the generation of readers that they were in the past. People aren't as invested in reading as they were in the past. I grew up reading books voraciously as a child. Yes, I read Mad magazine too, but I still almost always was reading.

We've lost that.

Rosie Perera

Frankly, I think a lot of people, and sadly many believers, are now just not quite the generation of readers that they were in the past. People aren't as invested in reading as they were in the past. I grew up reading books voraciously as a child. Yes, I read Mad magazine too, but I still almost always was reading.

We've lost that.

I think that even many people who were voracious readers when they were younger have slowed way down in their book intake. I used to read on average a book a week. Now I'm lucky if I finish 5 in a year. I think there are way more distractions nowadays than we used to have, and it takes an extraordinary amount of focus and discipline to be able to fight the temptation to just scroll through Facebook when you have free time instead of sitting down to read for 1/2 an hour or so. I used to read in bed, but nowadays, by the time I go to bed I'm usually too tired to read.

GaoLu

I suppose that a Christian bookstore these days isn't so much profitable in dollars as it may be in ministry. What about a small bookstore with a place for new and used books, with an adjacent area for selling coffee? Offer space with soft chairs for college students to sit around and discuss deep theological matters--or whatever. Make it friendly for retired people too--close to a favorite breakfast area.

Hold Bible studies. Informal debates. Have someone come in with a guitar and play hymns.

Make it a ministry. It may not pay in dollars, but it may pay in better ways.