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Christian retailers show to draw 10,000

Janet Forgrieve, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 11, 2006 at midnight

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Jilene Framke credits finding Christianity with saving her marriage and offering up a new tattoo business at the same time.

Framke and her husband, Jeff, were having a rocky time, she said, and decided to go back to church. On Easter Sunday 2000, the pair accepted Jesus and started to work in earnest.

Soon after, Framke left her sales job and the pair started the company that would become Angel Toes, Good News Tattooz.

"I became Christian, and I wanted to work for the Kingdom," she said. "The money's not the same, but it's better for the soul."

That Minneapolis-based venture, which sells a line of religion-themed temporary tattoos, was one of 410 exhibitors Monday at the International Christian Retailers Show at the Colorado Convention Center.

The tattoos, which can last up to five days, include a crown of thorns armband, crosses and several with biblical or Christian messages.

They offer Christian kids a chance to "show that they're cool," Framke said.

Christian books and merchandise represent between $4 billion and $5 billion in annual retail sales, said Bill Anderson, president of the Christian Booksellers Association, which puts on the annual trade show.

Christian retailers, who face just as much competitive pressure from big-box retailers as the rest of the industry, need to focus on the extras and expertise they can offer customers, Anderson said.

"Interest in the spiritual and Christianity in particular continues to run hot, and people have questions," he said. "That's part of the value of the specialty retailer."

The show, which runs through Thursday, is expected to draw around 10,000 this week. Most are trying to sell Christian books and other products to retailers.

The annual event opened Monday with an hour-long talk on leadership by former U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft.

At the end, Ashcroft sat at the piano, leading the group first in Jesus Loves Me and then America the Beautiful.

The show floor opened shortly after. It boasts wholesalers' booths whose displays include Christian literature for adults and children, greeting cards, jewelry and artworks bearing Bible verses.

Michelle Zwicky, owner of Every Good Gift, has been a regular at the show since she started selling her line of anointing oils in 1990.

After her first husband died, Zwicky opened a Christian bookstore that she ran for four years. During that time, she became interested in the oils, which are described in the Bible and used during prayer.

These days, she sells her wares to other Christian bookstores, and a growing number of praying customers are driving business, said Zwicky, whose sales are up 70 percent over this time last year.

While the annual trade show drives business, so do calls from consumers who want to know how to use the oils.

"I teach them, then that drives them to the local Christian stores," she said.

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