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THE SIGN was not up yet, but every shelf of the 2,200-square-foot Splendor
Christian Marketplace (SCM) was well stocked and waiting for customers.
The new store opened its doors in a downtown Kamloops strip mall last month, on
Mother’s Day weekend.
Two Christian bookstores, Tabs Christian Supply and Soul Source, closed their
doors last year, leaving the city and its 50-plus churches with only one major
outlet for Bible-based resources: Loaves & Fishes Book & Church Supply.
Many local Christians lamented the loss of the stores, and the increasingly
limited opportunities to have an old-style personal shopping experience in a
Christian ‘family’ atmosphere.
Enter Jerry and Ruth Giesbrecht, owners of the Vernon-based SCM. Along with
their wares, they have brought smiles back to diehard patrons.
From their Vernon stores, they were already handling accounts of half a dozen
Kamloops churches.
As in other markets, the independent SCM has to fight giants like Amazon.com and
Chapters for its share of the religious dollars.
But the Giesbrechts have taken the plunge because of encouragement from local
customers, in spite of the uncertain economy.
“People used to do studies in churches and home groups, requiring Bibles and
study materials. Now they use the internet more. The old way of doing Christian
retail marketing by independents is threatened – but not passé,” said Jerry.
A lot of people still want to physically handle and peruse books before buying
them, as he has learned in the last few years.
“The store is both a business and a ministry, to draw the buyers to a deeper
relationship to Christ. The location calls for good visibility, a factor that
led to the death of one Kamloops store,” said Giesbrecht.
SCM’s mall parking is metered, but fee stubs are reimbursed.
Shelves of Christian cards, jewellery and trinkets – along with stacks of Bibles, commentaries and study books – call for shoppers’ attention on the well laid-out and spacious floor.
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Giesbrecht’s assistant, Gail Hill – former manager at Tabs, for more than seven years – welcomes browsers warmly.
She has no plans to stock non-religious items, or to offer a socializing area at
the moment, because of size limitations.
Like the big box stores, Hill will take special orders and mail purchases
anywhere.
She is convinced that Southern Interior towns deprived of Christian stores are
sure to take advantage of the opportunity, as the word spreads.
Future SCM community relation plans include selling tickets for Christian
events, and even offering some bursaries to Christian students.
“We are excited to be here. God has led us here, and we look forward to serving
his people,” Giesbrecht affirms.
SCM will soon be setting up a website. Meanwhile, the store can be found at 265
Seymour Street. It can also be reached by phone at 250.374.1655.
– Narayan Mitra
June 2009
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