Christian Publishers Outlet is scheduled to close by Dec. 16, its owner said today, citing the rise of Internet shopping and the decline of physical media.
The south-side retailer of Christian-themed books, CDs and DVDs, as well as clothing, jewelry, educational resources and toys, has experienced sales declines of 3 to 6 percent a year since 2000, except in 2002, when current owners Bruce and Kim Erdel bought the store.
“When you string 10 or 12 years like that together, that’s significant,” Bruce Erdel said, declining to disclose annual revenues.
Erdel said CPO, which has long anchored the Twin Oaks Plaza shopping center at 4145 S. National Ave., has been adversely affected by such online retailers as Amazon and digital services, including e-books, iTunes and Netflix.
While Bible sales have been largely unaffected, Erdel said the store’s collection of fictional works - a large portion of revenue - have been hurt.
“Technology has really affected our core markets,” he said, noting CPO began selling items such as T-shirts, jewelry and toys to head off declining sales.
“We had significant growth in those areas. It just was too much to overcome.”
Starting Thursday at 1 p.m., CPO will hold a close-out sale for some $500,000 in remaining merchandise. Unsold products would be returned to publishers, he said.
The Erdels
bought the 9,200-square-foot store from Bill and Harolyn Link, who purchased it in 1994. The company was founded by Tim and Carol Carpenter in 1991.
