Family Christian (formerly called Zondervan Book Store, Family Book Stores, and Family Christian Stores), headquartered in Grand Rapids, Michigan is a Christian themed web retailer. [1] Originally a retail chain, by 2008, it was the world's largest Christian focused retailer. [2] In 2013, the chain transitioned to a non-profit before filing for bankruptcy in 2015, closing all stores in 2017 and returning as a web retailer in 2019.
The company was founded in 1931 by two young brothers who were first generation Americans at the start of The Great Depression. From their family farmhouse in Grandville, Michigan. Pat and Bernie Zondervan launched Zondervan Publishing House as a company committed to spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ through publishing and eventually Christian resources and products as well.
Until 1993, the chain was part of Zondervan, the Christian publishing company that owns the copyright to the New International Version of the Bible. [2] The two companies shared the same office complex in Western Michigan. Family Christian Stores increased its size through acquisitions, including Joshua's Christian Stores and Shepherd Shoppe. [3] Christian items and church supplies were also sold over the internet through the company website which transitioned to a new platform in the fall of 2011. [3] Some of the larger stores in the chain hosted large in-store events including concerts for Christian artists, [4] book signings and special events.
In 2012, the management team and a group of Atlanta based Christian businessmen purchased the company from the private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners which had been the majority owner since 1999. The new owners had the singular idea to turn it into an engine for increased Christian generosity by pledging to its customers that 100% of store profits would go towards Christian organizations and causes, preferably ministries serving widows and orphans. [5] In December of that year, the organization was granted 501 (c)3 status from the Internal Revenue Service, officially transforming it into a nonprofit company.
In 2015, Family Christian Stores filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy and in 2017, closed all retail stores.
In 2019, Family Christian Stores reopened two years after closing and became an online store.
Indigo Books & Music Inc., known as "Indigo" and stylized "!ndigo", is Canada's only major English-language bookstore chain. It is Canada's largest book, gift, and specialty toy retailer, operating stores in all ten provinces and one territory, and through a website offering a selection of books, toys, home décor, stationery, and gifts. Most Chapters and Indigo stores include a Starbucks café inside. As of 2022, Indigo has started selling music, and select audio equipment.
Borders is a book and stationery retailer operating in Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates by the Al Maya Group. It was founded in the United States in 1971 by brothers Tom and Louis Borders, who opened their first bookshop in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
Barnes & Noble Booksellers is an American bookseller with the largest number of retail outlets in the United States. The company operates approximately 600 retail stores across all 50 U.S. states.
Mervyn's was an American middle-scale department store chain based in Hayward, California, and founded by Mervin G. Morris (1920–2021). It carried national brands of clothing, footwear, bedding, bath products, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, electronics, toys, and housewares. Many of the company's stores were opened in shopping malls; however, some locations were operated independently. Based on 2005 revenue, Mervyn's was the 83rd largest retailer in the United States.
Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids and various others. The company was founded in 1948; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters located in Parsippany-Troy Hills, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area.
The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, was an American chain of grocery stores that operated from 1859 to 2015. From 1915 through 1975, A&P was the largest grocery retailer in the United States.
McCrory Stores or J.G. McCrory's was a chain of five and dime stores in the United States based in York, Pennsylvania. The stores typically sold shoes, clothing, housewares, fabrics, penny candy, toys, cosmetics, and often included a lunch counter or snack bar.
Service Merchandise was a retail chain of catalog showrooms carrying jewelry, toys, sporting goods and electronics. The company, which first began in 1934 as a five-and-dime store, was in existence for 68 years before ceasing operations in 2002.
Bonton Holdings Inc. operating as Bonton was an American department store chain and group founded in 1898. It operated in Western New York, Pennsylvania, and throughout the Midwestern United States. The former York, Pennsylvania-based company BonTon filed for bankruptcy in February 2018 and sold the name to CSC Generation, which sold it to BrandX.com in 2021, operating an e-commerce site under the brand name. Along with Bergner's, Boston Store, Carson's, Elder-Beerman, Herberger's, and Younkers, the names of most of the defunct retail group's department store chains are owned by BrandX.
Brentano's was an American bookstore chain with numerous locations in the United States.
B. Dalton Bookseller was an American retail bookstore chain founded in 1966 by Bruce Dayton, a member of the same family that operated the Dayton's department store chain. B. Dalton expanded to become the largest retailer of hardcover books in the United States, with 779 stores at the peak of the chain's success. Located mainly at indoor shopping malls, B. Dalton competed primarily with Waldenbooks. Barnes & Noble acquired the chain from Dayton's in 1987 and continued to operate it until a late 2009 announcement that the last 50 stores would be liquidated by January 2010. B. Dalton was later revived by rebranding a Barnes & Noble location in 2022.
The direct market is the dominant distribution and retail network for American comic books. The concept of the direct market was created in the 1970s by Phil Seuling. The network currently consists of:
Stage Stores was a department store company specializing in retailing off-price brand name apparel, accessories, cosmetics, footwear, and housewares throughout the United States. Stores were usually located in shopping malls and centers or in standalone locations. The corporate office was located in Houston, Texas.
Crowley Milner and Company, generally referred to as Crowley's, was a department store chain founded in Detroit, Michigan, in 1909. After several years of financial difficulties, the company ceased operation in 1999 and its assets were sold.
Kroch's and Brentano's was the largest bookstore in Chicago, and at one time it was the largest privately owned bookstore chain in the United States. The store and the chain were formed in 1954 through the merger of the separate Kroch's bookstore with the former Chicago branch of the New York-based Brentano's bookstore. The chain was closed in 1995 after suffering financial losses from increased competition.
A&A Records was a Canadian organization.
Art Van Furniture Inc. was an American furniture retail store chain, with stores across the Midwestern United States. Founded in 1959, the company was headquartered in Warren, Michigan, and claimed to be the largest furniture retailer in the Midwest at its peak. In 2020, the company filed for bankruptcy and closed all of its stores.
The James Pascoe Ltd Group of Companies is a privately owned New Zealand retail group with holdings across New Zealand and Australia. JPG owns and operates chains Pascoes the Jewellers, Stewart Dawsons and Goldmark ; department store Farmers ; homeware retailer Stevens; and bookshop Whitcoulls in New Zealand. The group's three Australian businesses are jewellers Prouds the Jewellers, Angus & Coote and Goldmark, with over 460 stores across Australia as of 2012. Goldmark is the only brand operating in both countries.
The retail apocalypse refers to the closing of numerous brick-and-mortar retail stores in the United States, especially those of large chains, beginning around 2010 and accelerating due to the mandatory closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
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