Christian Retailer Scheduled to Close - Will Now Live On
Long-time Ozarks' Christian retailer Christian Publishers Outlet - scheduled to close its doors at the end of 2015 - will now live on, after some creative thinking by the store's former owners.
Springfield, MO, December 15, 2015 (Newswire.com) - The Link family – owners of CPO until 2002, and current owners of the pre-owned bookstore Redeemed Books & More, located across the street – heard the news that CPO was scheduled to close its doors forever at the end of 2015. “We have a lot of our heart invested into that place, and were heart-broken at the news of its closing…and even more at the thought of Southwest Missouri not having a resource like CPO. So we started talking to Bruce (CPO’s owner from 2002-2015) about ways we might get creative to continue the CPO legacy,” says Bill Link.
Over the next few weeks, those talks led to a plan for the Links to buy-back the CPO name, many of the assets, and ultimately for CPO and Redeemed to operate together under one roof. “Before Redeemed was here, our building used to house CPO. That makes this a ‘coming home’ of sorts for CPO,” says Todd Link, who has been a manager at both stores, and will be the General Manager of the combined venture going forward. Todd also says he hopes the plan of offering the “best of both stores under one roof,” will result in one great resource for customers of both businesses.
Before Redeemed was here, our building used to house CPO. That makes this a 'coming home' of sorts for CPO.
Todd Link, General Manager
The plan is for Redeemed to continue handling the wide variety of gently-used inventory they always have, but add CPO’s focus on providing an inventory of new product at discounted prices. The new inventory would mostly constitute new releases and items less than 2-3 years old - with a focus on the top 300-400 sellers - along with a wide selection of Bibles, DVD’s, videos and other resources. “It used to be, you checked with one….then checked with the other. Now that will be one stop, or one phone call, instead of two,” says Todd. That “one stop,” will now be at 4140 S. National, on the northeast corner of the intersection of National Ave. and Republic Rd.
The business model is unique, but not completely unprecedented. Powell’s Books, a chain of bookstores in the Portland, Oregon area, has been offering new and used merchandise side by side in their stores for nearly 44 years. However, this might be the first instance of a predominantly Christian bookstore to adopt this sales model.
