LifeWay Christian Is Closing All Its Stores Including 23 in Texas

LifeWay Christian Resources is closing all 170 of its stores and will instead shift to a digital retail strategy. The Nashville-based company is the second national Christian bookstore chain to lose customers to e-commerce in the past two years. Its decision follows the closing in 2017 of another national Christian bookstore chain. Family Christian closed all 240 of its stores after struggling for several years and a trip to bankruptcy court.Stores are expected to close by the end of the year and will vary depending on local leases. The company operates 23 stores in Texas including five local stores in Flower Mound, Fort Worth, Hurst, Mesquite and Plano. The other big concentration of stores is in Houston where there are six locations and most large and medium size Texas cities have a LifeWay store. LifeWay, which has sold Bibles, books, music and related materials since 1891, said it will continue to sell online and through a network of churches.The company said in January that it would close some stores due to declining customer traffic and sales. Conditions have deteriorated enough that stores are no longer "a viable option," said the retailer's acting president and CEO Brad Waggoner in a statement. In one month, LifeWay said it interacts with five times as many people through its online platform than it does through its stores. Its digital strategy includes new online Bible studies and live streaming of events and training. Amazon has a Twitter: @MariaHalkias  Continue reading...