Word spreads on new trend: Christian retail

DENVER — The fake rose petals strewn across the tablecloth gave Milton Hobbs' booth a romantic aura. He stacked crystal-cut perfume flasks in a pyramid and set out pink candles tied with ribbon. The effect was almost sexy — at least compared with the other booths at the International Christian Retail Show.

Hobbs liked it. He needed a striking display to call attention to his most unusual product.

"Christian perfume," he said. "It's a really, really new genre. We're the first!"

Virtuous Woman perfume comes packaged with a passage from Proverbs. But what makes the floral fragrance distinctly Christian, Hobbs said, is that it's supposed to be a tool for evangelism.

"It should be enticing enough to provoke questions: 'What's that you're wearing?' " Hobbs said. "Then you take that opportunity to speak of your faith."

More than 400 vendors packed the Colorado Convention Center in July to showcase the latest accessories for the Christian lifestyle. There were acres of the predictable: books, CDs, greeting cards, inspirational artwork, stuffed animals wearing "Jesus Loves You" T-shirts. Many of the newest items, however, put a religious twist on unexpected products — marketed as means to reach the unsuspecting and unsaved.

Follow the Son flip-flops, for instance, have patterned soles that leave the message "Follow Jesus" in the sand. A startup company called Christian Outdoorsman was taking orders for a camouflage baseball cap marked with a red cross. And, in Booth 235, Revelation Products of St. Louis was pitching Gospel Golf Balls with the slogan "a great golf ball with a greater purpose."

Manufactured by Top-Flite, the golf balls are printed with well-known verses from the Bible, such as John 3:16 ("For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son ... "). Dave Kruse, president of Revelation, said they were meant as "conversation starters" to help men share their faith while teeing up.

An added bonus: Duffers need no longer feel bad about losing a ball in the rough.

"If you're playing great, good," Kruse said. "If you're spraying the ball, well ... lose a golf ball, share the Gospel."

After years of steady growth, the Christian retail market notched $4.3 billion in sales in 2004, the latest year figures are available. Sales of Christian books, in particular, are booming — outpacing most other sectors of the publishing industry.

But except for a handful of top-selling books and albums, Christian merchandise is marketed almost exclusively by believers for believers, through Christian stores, trade shows and Web sites.

There are Christian health clubs, Christian insurance agencies and Christian tree trimmers (who advertise in Christian business directories). There are Christian alternatives for the most unlikely mainstream products: gangsta rap, shoot-'em-up video games, sweatbands, playing cards, scrapbook supplies, children's pajamas.

Even the popular American Girl doll collection — long a favorite of Christian families because it's so wholesome — has inspired an overtly Christian knockoff called A Life of Faith.

Over at Booth 266, Michael McCarron, the owner of Scripture Candy, is wearing a stars-and-stripes shirt and a harried look as he rushes about filling plates with samples of Christian chocolates for the more than 9,000 vendors and retailers who visited the five-day trade show. His company, based in Birmingham, Ala., sells an extensive line of candy packaged in little bags printed with Bible verses.

The candy is all top-quality, he said: "You can't put the word of God on something that someone will taste and go 'Blech!' and throw away."

McCarron believes his sweets can and do save souls. He once received a letter from a man who came across a Bible verse on a packet of candy corn while going through his son's trick-or-treat loot. "The verse touched him and he decided right there to stop drinking and go back to Christ," McCarron said.

Most merchandise missionaries say they don't expect such miracles. They hope instead that their products will light a spark. When a co-worker helps herself to a fish-shaped breath mint, maybe she'll remember she hasn't been to church in years. When a hunter sees the red crucifix on his buddy's cap, perhaps he'll feel comfortable asking a question about Jesus.

"It's about picking people up at their level of interest," said Bill Anderson, president of the CBA, a national trade organization representing more than 2,000 Christian stores.