LifeWay Christian Resources To Close

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marshd1000
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LifeWay Christian Resources To Close

Post by marshd1000 »

First it was Family Christian Stores, now LifeWay is closing all of its stores!

https://relevantmagazine.com/current/li ... ng-stores/
Alpha8472
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Re: LifeWay Christian Resources To Close

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You can buy this type of merchandise online at cheaper prices. These stores always seemed too high priced. Most of the customers who still used the stores were mostly senior citizens who did not use the internet for purchases. Their customer base is dying out.
Last edited by Alpha8472 on March 23rd, 2019, 2:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: LifeWay Christian Resources To Close

Post by architect »

Alpha8472 wrote: March 21st, 2019, 3:46 pm You can buy this type of merchandise online at cheaper prices. These stores always seemed to high priced. Most of the customers who still used the stores were mostly senior citizens who did not use the internet for purchases. Their customer base is dying out.
Actually, a big part of Lifeway's downfall in recent years was their somewhat limited selection which turned off many potential shoppers. Due to having a fairly strict content policy, LifeWay has traditionally taken time to review materials against their theological standards before offering them for sale. However, this also means that they often miss the boat on new release traffic. Case in point, about a year ago, a prominent DC-area pastor who used to lead a college ministry at my university released a book which was immediately picked up by Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and numerous other outlets. However, multiple local LifeWay stores had no knowledge of the book whatsoever, after having been publicized for months. I actually picked up said book at B&N two days after release after failing to find it at LifeWay, and sure enough, it showed up on Lifeway's shelves a few months later, but after new release momentum had died down. In addition, they often have a tendency to not carry works from authors and artists who are outside of the ultra-mainstream. Lastly, the sacrificing of floor space for non-core items such as clothing and home decor in recent years hurt their core book/resource selection even further. Although I am sad to see them go, I am not surprised.
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Re: LifeWay Christian Resources To Close

Post by wnetmacman »

What we have all forgotten was that Lifeway wasn't always a mainstream Christian store. It started off life as the Baptist Book Store of the Southern Baptist Convention. While they had some adaptation, it was still the Baptist Book Store. You can't survive against Mardel (of Hobby Lobby fame) unless you serve all the Christian community. Lifeway did not.
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