The inaugural Christian Store Day was a success for the 475 participating stores that purchased more than 10,000 “Help Haiti” benefit CDs to celebrate the “faith and community” that Christian stores bring to their local communities. The stores also helped raise awareness for Haiti relief. The nation with more than 1 million homeless people is now suffering a cholera epidemic in the wake of the devastating January earthquake. Proceeds from CD sales will benefit Haiti relief work through Compassion Intl., Operation Christmas Child, and World Vision. CBA and the planning team are collecting final results and data on what happened, but initial indications are the first-time project exceeded expectations. Rainstorms, which affected store traffic, hit some Southeast stores but others had very exciting and well-attended events. See Facebook comments from the day at: http://www.facebook.com/pages/ChristianStoreDay/133616299990728?ref=ts The goal of Christian Store Day and other CBA Channel Exclusives is to provide a way to demonstrate publicly the power of Christian-store ministry, and to create more awareness of Christian stores and their local missions. “We are very pleased with the initial event and believe that it will build momentum in future years to raise awareness of Christian stores, the needs they serve and fulfill, and their role in the community to lift up and honor Christ,” said Curtis Riskey, CBA executive director. “Christian Store Day is an opportunity to demonstrate the power of ministry and the impact of working together.” The event was the result of an unprecedented cooperative effort by industry associations, vendors, and retailers. CBA, Christian Music Trade Assoc., and the Evangelical Christian Publishers Assoc. provided strategic direction and support. Vendors included EMI Christian Music Group, Word Entertainment, Provident-Integrity Distribution, Thomas Nelson Publishing, Tyndale House Publishers, and Zondervan. Propeller consulting of Nashville provided marketing and promotional support. Other sponsors included FrontGate Media; www.frontgatemedia.com; Gospel Music Channel, www.gmclife.com; Hollywood Jesus, www.hollywoodjesus.com; Splatter, www.splatter.com; Creator Worship, www.creatorworship.com; Hear it First, www.hearitfirst.com; Lithotone, www.lithotone.com; Spring Arbor, www.springarbor.com; and SpringSprang Studio, www.springsprang.com. The vendor companies not only provided free giveaway products for retailers’ in-store events, but also organized royalty-free songs and e-books for the “Help Haiti” CD. They also supported the campaign with e-marketing and social-media support. ### CONTACT: Eric Grimm CBA Manager of Strategic Partnerships (719) 272-3533 egrimm@cbaonline.org |