From my old hometown, Springfield, Missouri, comes this story of a bookstore closing after 25 years in business. In this case, the bookstore is the Christian Publishers Outlet, a Christian book, video, and music store.
CPO’s owner cites an increasing consumer shift toward digital music and movies and e-books as contributing to dwindling sales.
“Each year has become increasingly more challenging. Although we have made many changes and adjustments to our store, sales have been on a steady decline for many years.”
The sale will continue through December 16, or until all merchandise is sold, whichever comes first.
It’s a little ironic that this happens right at a time when publishers are claiming e-book sales are falling off, and meanwhile, bookstores in general have been experiencing something of a resurgence in the last few years. But religious bookstores might well be hit harder and differently than secular bookstores, considering their narrower customer base. Indeed, given that most large publishers are secular, it’s even possible that a higher proportion of religious authors are choosing to self-publish, though I don’t have any statistics to back that feeling up.
