A Higher Calling
Another way HCCP is leveraging its print and content business is with the live events business Women of Faith. These one- or two-day gatherings feature music and inspirational speeches by HCCP authors; books are sold in the concourse, making them akin to pop-up bookstores.
Schoenwald is positive about the division's domestic book sales. While CBA sales have followed the results of the channel as a whole, with growth at the strongest retailers, the ABA is very hit-driven. One area of focus is augmenting backlist sales, especially in the ABA stores. Currently, backlist represents 65 percent of HCCP's business and is a strength of its partnership with the CBA. After retooling its sell-in and carefully controlling returns, the division is seeing increases through the mass merch channel.