All Family Christian stores will be shuttering their doors following 85 successful years.
The company was known for being a retailer that sold books and a specific lifestyle that conforms to Christian values and its faith. Family Christian stores are not as popular as they once were, leading to all 240 stores around the nation facing impending closure.
The Michigan-based brand decided to make the difficult move following years of declining sales and changing consumer behavior that hurt its business. Family Christian has failed to adapt to the changing times as brick-and-mortar locations do not get as much traffic as they once did.
The consumer shift to online shopping has had an adverse effect on companies such as this one. Family Christian stores employ a total of about 3,000 workers in 36 states.
The retailer filed for bankruptcy protection and it was unable to recover from that. It is still unclear when the non-profit business will close down completely, and whether or not it will be one store at a time or all at once.
“Despite improvements in product assortment and the store experience, sales continued to decline. In addition, we were not able to get the pricing and terms we needed from our vendors to successfully compete in the market. We have prayerfully looked at all possible options, trusting God’s plan for our organization, and the difficult decision to liquidate is our only recourse,” said Chuck Bengochea, company president, in the release.
