wfn.org | Publishing House Plans Store Improvements

[NewsDesk <NewsDesk@UMCOM.UMC.ORG>]

CONTACT: 	Tim Tanton
(10-71B){188}
	Nashville, Tenn. (615) 742-5473		 March 30, 1998

Publishing House's strategy targets
stores, staff, new products

				by United Methodist News Service 

DALLAS -- The United Methodist Publishing House will aggressively
upgrade its retail stores in the next five years as part of a
three-point plan outlined by its president.
"It is past time to refurbish at least half of our stores," President
Neil Alexander told the agency's governing board members at their March
27-28 meeting here.
"We have stores that haven't been changed over for 15 years," he said.
Many of the stores are below acceptable standards because the Publishing
House has been on a 10-year fix-up and replacement schedule -- a time
frame that Alexander said "is simply much too long" and is double the
industry standard.
The board members approved a plan to set aside funds for the work on the
stores and to cover other needs facing the Publishing House.
Alexander presented his plans against the backdrop of a more competitive
market and the agency's efforts to increase sales, improve service and
reach performance goals. He called for the Publishing House to move
beyond simply improving its current operation.
To step forward, he said, the agency must:
*	Invest in research and development of new products.
The agency must invest time, talent and money in this area to produce
new products and find new ways of distributing them, the president said.
The Publishing House faces fierce competition and   shifting
expectations about what products are needed for church school, Bible
study and program ministries, he said.
"All of these demand that we set aside people and funds" to invent new
types of products and ways of distributing them, he said.
Alexander cited two examples of recent successes: The popular Disciple
Bible Study and the New Interpreter's Bible.
"Disciple required an investment of time and talent that was outside the
normal operation," Alexander said. ". . . We need to create the capacity
to develop the next offering that is like Disciple.
"Look at the New Interpreter's Bible and the way that has been received,
and the critical acclaim and the value that it will offer for the next
10, 15, 20 years, if not longer," he continued. "That required finding
talented, gifted people and many new processes, setting them aside and
committing financial resources to them."
Proposals for new initiatives will be brought to the board in the coming
months, Alexander said.
*	Recruit and train future leaders for the agency.
The Publishing House must attract a new generation of people who are
passionate about publishing and retail, Alexander said. 
He proposed a two-year leadership development program that would train
people for placement at the agency. The new initiative would begin
during the next year.
"What we're looking for is (people) who will want to invest in a
lifetime career in the publishing and distribution ministry," Alexander
said.
He emphasized the importance of having a group that reflects the racial,
ethnic and regional diversity of the church.
*	Upgrade the Cokesbury retail store chain.
"We must take sustained and aggressive action over the next five years
to retool, refit, and, where appropriate, relocate or even establish new
Cokesbury retail stores," Alexander said.
The agency has 46 Cokesbury stores in major U.S. cities and at 25
seminaries.
Alexander pointed to the new, 5,000-square-foot
Cokesbury store in Knoxville as a model for future sites. 
The new store has a variety of departments appealing to a wide range of
interests, with products that include serious theological books, gifts,
children's books and videos, devotional reading, and Bible and reference
materials. It has a deeper selection than older, smaller stores, and the
merchandise is presented in more visually appealing ways.
The agency needs more such stores, placed at busy locations, as opposed
to the 3,000-square-foot outlets tucked away in obscure shopping
centers, Alexander said.
The Publishing House also must consider other ways of reaching
customers, he said.
"We want to do some things that haven't even been invented yet," he
said.
The agency is seeking the best way to reach the largest number of people
in a given area. In some places, that might mean a high-visibility
store, such as the new one in Knoxville. Other places might be better
suited for smaller stores closely aligned with annual conference
offices, such as the Cokesbury shop near the bishop's office in
Sacramento, Calif., Alexander said.
The agency also might have field representatives available to lead
workshops, and it could even use a roving sales van to reach people, he
said.
Alexander's initiatives will be funded through the return on the
Publishing House's investments. Based on today's markets, the agency
could have available a total of about $1 million a year for the
foreseeable future, Alexander said. That amount will fluctuate with the
investment portfolio, he said.
The amount of money that will be allotted for each of the three key
areas will become clearer in the months ahead, he said. Some initial
proposals will be ready when the executive committee meets in June, he
said.
The approval for setting aside the money came with the board's adoption
of a policy for administering its investment reserve funds. The policy
designates amounts for several areas, including retiree health benefits,
large maintenance costs for Publishing House facilities and a rainy day
fund for emergency operating needs.
The Publishing House's finances looked "very good" during the last two
quarters, Chief Financial Officer Larry Wallace said.
For the six-month period ending Jan. 31, the agency had net revenue of
$6.7 million, up from $3.8 million over the same period a year earlier.
Net revenue is the agency's bottom-line performance figure.
Total sales were $57.2 million, up from $56.9 million during the
comparable six months a year earlier.
In other business, the board:
*	Approved a process for establishing and monitoring progress
toward affirmative action goals. The agency has 305 employees who belong
to racial or ethnic minorities on a staff of 1,100 employees. Twenty-one
racial and ethnic minority employees have been chosen for a career
advancement program.
		*	Voted to help produce a Korean-English hymnal.
The project was endorsed by the governing members of the Board of
Discipleship at their March 12-14 meeting in Nashville.

United Methodist News Service
(615)742-5470
Releases and photos also available at
http://www.umc.org/umns/