Yes, we sell books but so much more …

Crown Books @ The Centre is owned and managed by churches in Horsham. It opened in 1994 to meet the needs of Christians for resources for their individual use and for group and corporate study, learning, devotions and worship. Times have changed then and many resources are now freely available via the internet.

The internet is also a valuable tool for locating and purchasing all kinds of resources for the church and nobody can be faulted for failing to take advantage of this 21^st Century technology. We too use the internet and it is difficult to imagine how we could run an efficient business without it.

Sometimes it is easy to presume that buying over the internet is the cheapest and most efficient way to shop but this is not always the case. For example, churches buying online from CPO usually have to pay by credit card and end up paying carriage; the same purchase via Crown Books would be available with an invoice and with no postage charges.

Furthermore Resource Partners would be entitled to a discount of 10% off the purchase.

Crown Books @ The Centre has been providing the church resources to many churches for nearly 16 years; these churches have benefited from being able to order from one supplier and have done so in the knowledge that they are helping to maintain a Christian presence on the High Street (or, in our case, in South Street).

So, next time you need something for the church please give us the opportunity to quote – you may be very pleasantly surprised!

Books for pleasure, leisure and study; Bibles; gifts; greetings cards for all occasions; church stationery; candles; communion wine & hosts; Sunday group & Bible study resources; music on DVD and CD; films on DVD; Fairtrade foods; music books; hymn books.

Doug Fletcher

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT!

It is great to be able to share some more encouraging news with you this month! Representatives of Crown Retailers recently met with the new CEO of STL (our major book supplier, most recently reported as having gone into administration and been bought by John Ritchie) and he shared his vision for the Christian trade in the UK. The new STL will concentrate on distribution and aims to revert to the service we became used to prior to the debacle in October 2008. Already there are significant improvements in the speed of deliveries and, in many cases, books ordered are supplied the very next day! We are promised that this will continue to improve and, coupled with our new relationships with other suppliers, Crown Books is looking forward to being able to offer you, our customer, the very best deals and the first class service you deserve.

So, do please give us the opportunity to demonstrate this by calling in or contacting us by ‘phone or e-mail.

Across the country several Wesley Owen shops recently closed because of the problems in IBS-STL. The good news is that many of these have now reopened, or will soon, under the ownership of Nationwide Christian Trust. Over the years we have made some good friends within Wesley Owen and we are so pleased for the staff and the customers in those areas affected.

PRAYER, PLEASE

On 27^th March Christian retailers, suppliers, publishers, authors, artists, and everyone else involved in the UK Christian trade, shared in a Day of Prayer for the trade. By the time you read this that day will have passed but we do ask you to pray for everyone involved in Christian retailing; times are difficult with the changes that have occurred and challenges from the internet and other technologies. Please pray that we will be open to the challenges and that we will learn to trust even more in our wonderful, reliable God.

Doug Fletcher

Easter

As you prepare for Easter, early in April, you might like to take a look at the resources we have available for group or individual study during Lent. We are always very willing to loan a few books for you to show your group and help with the choice.

Promotions

As I write this, in late January, there is still some uncertainty about the future of the Crown Retailer Partnership. Crown Retailers are independent Christian bookshops who, together with STL, are able to offer their customers a number of services which alone they would not be able to provide. These have included the regular catalogue promotion, detailing new releases as well as offering great deals on a range of titles. We have been in discussion with a number of publishers and expect to be able continue to provide you with some excellent deals! Please watch out for them. The future of the Crown web site is also unclear but we do urge you to continue using it as long as it is available. This will further our argument that a Crown Web site is a valuable tool for our customers and may sway the new owners of STL to continue their support of it. Buying from Amazon may sometimes be cheaper but the ultimate price, if used in favour of Christian bookshops, will be the demise of the local Christian bookshop.

Prayer

Please pray for those affected by the dramatic changes within the Christian retail trade, especially for the Wesley Owen staff facing redundancy or, at least uncertainty about their future.

We give thanks that it seems likely that a Christian trust may be purchasing those Wesley Owen shops not already acquired by Koorong or CLC.

Doug Fletcher