In the era of Amazon, spiritual and religious bookstores find a market that clicks

March 10, 2019, 13:29 GMT

By Alex Johnson

SEATTLE – Robert Anderson misses the days when major bookstores dominated the world.

Anderson owns Edge of the Circle Books and Magickal Supplies in the University District of Seattle, a small independent store with a wide variety of books on paganism and other religions "unrelated to Christianity, Judaism, or Islam. ".

For owners of independent religious bookstores and spiritualists, the world of retail has been turned upside down since Amazon.com opened its virtual doors in 1994, a year before the acquisition of Edge of the Circle by Anderson.

"We have to compete differently now," he says. "When it was Borders and Barnes & Noble, we had to have a much better selection of books on these topics than them, which was not that difficult."

Today, the Anderson store sells a lot more than just books. You can also find jewelry, tarot games ("I wear most of the card games available in the United States," he says), ceremonial daggers, goblets, chalices, pins, candles, oils, incense, altarpieces and a wall hangings.

"We had to strive to expand our business to the areas of magic supplies – what we call" magic shopping "- that people must own," he says.

More importantly, there is Robert Anderson, a patient and serene man who is happy to spend time explaining his business, his merchandise and his story – really, everything related to paganism and occultism – anyone stops there. request.

"Oh, my God, every moment, I'm glad people come to learn from me," Anderson said. "You know, it does not cost anything to talk to me."

"Their loyalty is what makes this possible"

Amazon itself has been experimenting with face-to-face retailing since 2015, the year of the opening of the first of its 18 physical Amazon Books stores in a shopping center less than one kilometer from Edge of the Circle.

Amazon Books at University Village offers three libraries of religious and spiritual goods that offer the Koran and the Bhagavad Gita, several books on Zen and spiritualists, a guide to Wiccan practice, the biography of Muhammad by Martin Lings, "The Purpose Driven ". Life "and five different translations of the Bible (but, the day a reporter visits, no King James version).

For more than an hour, one weekday morning, dozens of people roam the light aisles and rate Kindles, Echoes, and Fire pencils, smart home appliances and Amazon themed trinkets, as well as as the odd maker of Greek yogurts and the Lifeline Power Wheel. Ultimate Core Trainer.

Nobody – neither clients nor staff – stops in the religions section.

Ken Fulcher thinks he could know why.

The Fulcher family is the owner of Amen! Christian Bookstore in Marysville, about an hour drive north of Seattle. He confirms that his business has changed dramatically over the years. What used to be an independent chain of 11 stores is now two (the other was converted to a bookstore-coffee hybrid about four years ago).

One busy weekday morning, Fulcher accompanies customers to the store by showing them books and merchandise he thinks he wants. For 20 minutes he disappears into the Bible room with a man looking for a very specific translation of King James.

"I knew you would be there, I did not know what you were looking for," he says to the man, who is finally joined by two friends, which triggers a long debate about the relative virtues of the various presentations of the King. James Version.

Personalized service is essential for Fulcher. "My job is to make sure that they end up with what they are looking for – or what they need," he says. "The rest takes care of itself."

He greets each of his clients as soon as they enter the store because, he explains, "it's their loyalty that makes this possible".

"They know that they are probably going to pay more for something here than they went to Amazon, but they are convinced that there is a Christian bookstore in our community and they want to keep it there." "he says. . "So they'll come or they'll call me and say, 'I've seen it on Amazon. Can you order it?'

"Erosion … in the brick and mortar canal"

Anderson and Fulcher are the survivors of a dramatic upheaval in the religious and spiritual book market.

The Parable Group, a Christian information and marketing company, reports that sales in religious bookstores and church stores in the United States fell by 3% in 2018.

This is the good news. The decline was lower than the 3.6% drop in 2017 – the same year that Family Christian Stores, which presented itself as the largest Christian retailer in the world, had closed its 240 stores, blaming the chronic debt of the 2009 recession and "consumer evolution". behavior. "Sales fell 6% in 2016, when Family Christian was still in business.

Then, just two months ago, LifeWay Christian Stores, another major chain retailing religious products, said it has lost money since 2009 and shut down an indeterminate number of its 174 stores across the country. country due to "an accelerated erosion rate … in the brick and mortar canal."

The collapse of Family Christian and LifeWay may leave a void for small bookstores and independent channels. But Emma Wenner, editor of the journal Publishers Weekly, says it's not easy.

Wenner says that many sales are going to big retailers such as Walmart and Target, while religious and spiritual books are becoming more and more common. Some of them top the lists of bestsellers with tens of millions of sales, like Warren's "The Purpose Driven Life". "and 2007 blockbuster by William Paul Young," Shack "and this" reduces the need for libraries dedicated to religions, "she says.

The data from the parable tend to confirm this. Last year, the new books and religious products – the list of choices – as opposed to older books and merchandise on the "list" – accounted for only 15% of the top 20 most-selling products in the retail outlets. Christians in the United States, revealed. In comparison, new books and products accounted for 45% of the top 20 religious products on the retail market in general.

In other words, "it seems that leading products are moving faster outside of the Christian retail business," said Parable, who has optimized the numbers by advising religious bookstores to capitalize on "breadth". from their catalog "of older documents.

Then there is the long-term decline in spiritual identification among Americans, who, according to Wenner, "feel less motivated by the mission of buying in specialty stores."

In its latest study of the religious landscape, the Pew Research Center, a non-profit organization's Forum on Religion and Public Life, revealed that religious "no's" – those who identify as atheists, agnostics or "nothing in particular" – went from 16% of American adults to 2007 to 23% in 2015.

Add it all up, and it means "a lot of trouble" for the religious and spiritual trade, says Wenner. "They are hoping for stability, and that's the best case."

Sarah Bolme, director of the Christian Indie Publishing Association, said the independent owners should be inspired by another modern retail giant: Starbucks.

"Starbucks flourished because they presented themselves as a" third place ", a space where people can share and enjoy a cup of coffee with friends and colleagues, away from work and at home", Bolme writes in a marketing report about what she called declining independent Christian bookstores.

"Would not it be nice for Christian bookstores to be a" third place "for Christians and scholars to come together and meet God without the formality of a church building or a church building? service?" she asked.

Bolme said that many religious and spiritual bookstores erect into "third places". But she wrote: "It seems that most Christian bookstores keep the old model of simple installation and expect customers because they are interested in what the store sells."

Edge of the Circle's Anderson said kissing the community was obvious.

In stores like hers, "you can talk to someone who knows about this thing," he says. "I can listen to what you have to say about what you are looking for and show you what it is, in fact, what you are describing.

"I mean, your local occult shop was – like, long ago before there was an internet – been the center of the community for people" interested in unconventional spiritual beliefs, he says. .

"We are looking for niches"

Like Anderson, Fulcher worked hard to make Amen! Christian Bookstore a welcoming place.

Although "the most important thing we have in stores is the Bibles," he says, "we are looking for niches that we can fill, and as needs change, we have to change."

So, Amen! sells a wide variety of greeting cards (so much that a delighted woman exclaims: "Maybe I should invest!"). And t-shirts. And the license plate frames. And banners, hats, study guides and desks, general media designed to appeal to politically conservative customers – even Bible-themed pocket calculators ("Make Every Day Count!") And the God Waters plant with watering cans.

Some are there to reach new customers. And some of them are there to replace what was previously rows and rows of Christian music CDs – largely gone, now, "because of all the downloads."

There was a time when the music lockers "would be half as long as this shop," says Fulcher. But "after a while, you have an idea of ​​what your customers are looking for".

Waving his hand on all items other than books, he says, "We do not make them much money, but it's a stable income."