Contact:

Christine D. Johnson

Managing Editor

Christian Retailing

retailerschoiceawards@strang.com

(407) 333-0600, ext. 2682 

Lake Mary, Fla. (April 23, 2010)—The votes are in and Christian retailers across the country have chosen their favorite new products of the year. Thirty-three winners of Christian Retailing‘s 2010 Retailers Choice Awards have been announced as the annual honors mark their 10th year. 

Filmmaker brothers Alex and Stephen Kendrick are the big personal winners, sharing three awards for Best DVD/Video: Movie with Fireproof (Provident Films), Best Book: Audio, The Love Dare (Brilliance Audio) and Best Book: Relationships, The Love Dare Day by Day (B&H Books/B&H Publishing Group).

California pastor Francis Chan also features, taking Best DVD/Video: Book/Bible Study for Crazy Love (David C. Cook), based on his 2008 title of the same name, while his 2009 follow-up, Forgotten God (Cook), takes one of two prizes for Best Book: Christian Living. 

The largest of 32 categories in the 2010 awards, Christian Living sees two winners this year, the other David Jeremiah’s Living With Confidence in a Chaotic World (Thomas Nelson). 

Leading the winning suppliers is Zondervan with six trophies—four of them for Bibles. The publisher’s new faith-based Berenstain Bears series takes Best Children’s Fiction with Jan & Mike Berenstain’s The Berenstain Bears Give Thanks. 

Nelson wins five awards, including Best Catholic/Liturgical for Joan Chittister’s The Liturgical Year and Best Backlist for Emerson Eggerich’s Love & Respect. Tyndale House Publishers earns four trophies, while Baker Publishing Group and Harvest House Publishers joins Cook with two each. 

Since they were launched in 2001, the Retailers Choice Awards have been increasingly acknowledged as an important way of recognizing some of the most significant new life-changing products in the Christian retail industry. 

Products nominated in the competition were judged on the impact they have had on staff and customers. Owners, managers, staff and volunteers at Christian retail stores were asked to judge the 277 nominations—products released during 2009—on the impact they had on staff and customers, including their ability to speak to hearts and evoke emotion, open minds to new ways of thinking and encourage and affirm Christlike living. 

Finalists were announced in early April, prior to winners’ presentations April 22 at The Gathering 2010 at Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, Ky. The results were independently verified. 

Retailers who voted this year earned the opportunity to win hundreds of dollars’ worth of the nominated products, with the winning stores also announced at The Gathering 2010.  

  • Janelle Pickering, Lemstone Parable of Cedar Rapids, Marion, Iowa  
     
  • Dan Shupe, Solid Rock Church Fireside Cafe & Bookstore, Monroe, Ohio  
     
  • Jason Harden, Insight for Living Publishing House, Plano, Texas  
     
  • Teresia Osborne, The Salt Cellar, Lawton, Okla.  
     
  • Georgia Rakestraw, Judy B & Company, Hiram, Ga.  
     
  • Tiffany Baird, Wellspring Bookstore, Des Moines, Iowa 
     

The 2010 winners were: 
 

BOOKS/BIBLES

  • Audio: The Love Dare, Stephen Kendrick and Alex Kendrick (Brilliance Audio)
  • Auto/Biography: Paul Harvey’s America, Stephen Mansfield and David A. Holland (Tyndale House Publishers)
  • Bible Reference/Study: The Names of God, Ann Spangler (Zondervan) 
  • Bible (Devotional & Study): Couples’ Devotional Bible, NIV (Zondervan) 
     
  • Bible (General): Bloom Collection (Zondervan)
  • Catholic/Liturgical: The Liturgical Year, Joan Chittister (Thomas Nelson)
  • Children’s Fiction: The Berenstain Bears Give Thanks, Jan & Mike Berenstain (Zonderkidz)
  • Children’s Nonfiction: The VeggieTales Bible, NIV (Zonderkidz)
  • Christian Education: Christian History Made Easy, Timothy Paul Jones, Ph.D. (Rose Publishing)
  • Christian Living (For this category only, we have two winners): 

    Living With Confidence in a Chaotic World, Dr. David Jeremiah (Thomas Nelson)

    Forgotten God, Francis Chan with Danae Yankoski (David C. Cook)

  • Church & Culture: 2012, the Bible and the End of the World, Mark Hitchcock (Harvest House Publishers)
  • Evangelism: Evidence for the Resurrection, Josh and Sean McDowell (Regal Books) 
     
  • Fiction (General): The Missing, Beverly Lewis (Baker Publishing Group) 
     
  • Fiction (Mystery & Suspense): Green, Ted Dekker (Thomas Nelson) 
     
  • Fiction (Women’s): A Lineage of Grace, Francine Rivers (Tyndale House Publishers)
  • Health and Fitness: Eat This and Live!, Don Colbert, MD (Strang Book Group)
  • Personal Growth/Prayer: Uncommon, Tony Dungy with Nathan Whitaker (Tyndale House Publishers)
  • Relationships: The Love Dare Day by Day, Stephen Kendrick and Alex Kendrick (B&H Publishing Group)
  • Social Issues: Inside the Revolution, Joel C. Rosenberg (Tyndale House Publishers)
  • Women’s Nonfiction: His Princess Bride, Sheri Rose Shepherd (Baker Publishing Group)
  • Youth/Teen: A Young Woman’s Guide to Making Right Choices, Elizabeth George (Harvest House Publishers) 
     

GIFTS 
 

  • General Gift Product: Willow Tree: Close to Me, Susan Lordi (Demdaco)
  • Gift Book: Jesus Lives, Sarah Young (Thomas Nelson)
  • Wall Décor: Moments of Faith Sculpture Plaque Eagle #11700 (Lighthouse Christian Products) 
     

OTHER 
 

  • Backlist: Love & Respect, Dr. Emerson Eggerichs (Thomas Nelson)
  • Children’s Media: Saint Nicholas—A Story of Joyful Giving DVD, VeggieTales (Big Idea)
  • DVD/Video: Book/Bible Study: Crazy Love, Francis Chan (David C. Cook)
  • DVD/Video: Movie: Fireproof (Provident Films)
  • Marketing/Promotion Campaign: Share the Good News of Christmas (Crossway)
  • Music: Come Alive, Mark Schultz (Word Entertainment)
  • Spanish: Santa Biblia de studio arquelogica, NVI (Zondervan)
  • Vacation Bible School: High Seas Expedition (Group Publishing) 
     

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