Are the Catholic stores disappearing around you?

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Of the handful I know of around me, two closed within the past year. One didn’t surprise me, fellow had a good selection, but was overpriced and he wasn’t very people friendly. Plus he was very SSPX sympathetic and wouldn’t stock things that didn’t fit his views. The other one just seemed to disappear overnight. I did look into a local “Christian bookstore” but when I searched “Catholic” on their site, all I could come up with was anti-Catholic literature. Guess “Christian” means “Protestant”. I don’t mind shopping online, but I still like to go to a store, support a local business and hold merchandise in my hand before I decide to buy it.
 
It’s a hard business to run successfully. An acquaintance of mine had a Catholic book and gift shop that ultimately went out of business. You have to sell an awful lot of inexpensive items to pay the rent and it can be hard to compete with larger stores. I remember one book I wanted that it turned out she didn’t even carry. When I asked why she said that Costco was selling it for less than her wholesale price so there was no point in stocking it.

It’s hard for all small stores, but when I think of how many plastic rosaries and flimsy medals you see in Catholic shops it seems like they have a very hard time making enough to stay open.
 
Never were any here in Lynchburg (I can see the big LU for Liberty University from my fron yard…). I frequent the online shops for items…
 
Happily, we have a Pauline Books and Media store, run by the Daughters of St. Paul, near where I live. One of our local parishes runs a bookstore too, well stocked, and of course the cathedral has a nice book and gift shop. There are several more Catholic book and supply stores which are privately owned here that I am aware of as well (Cotters, for instance). I guess Los Angeles is large enough to support them. A very large Christian bookstore nearby went out of business though, and is now a home improvement center.
 
Independent bookstores of all kinds are suffering. Not that I don’t spent a lot with Amazon. We actually had a diocesan-subsidized store that couldn’t make it.
 
I know of 4 Catholic stores here, and only one seems to be struggling. It is located way out of the way, and it’s closed most times I’ve passed by to shop.

Mexico still is a Catholic country, and I hope it stays that way.
 
None here in the first place.

I prefer to shop online anyway.
 
The two I know of have been in the same place for decades, though one of them was recent purchased by the other. I guess they have a monopoly on selling Catholic stuff. There is a Christian book store around that’s called something like Family Christian Supply or something like that. I went in there once and I noticed they have a shelf in the corner that was labeled “Catholic”. It was almost entirely filled with Advent candle sets. There also were two crucifixes, a small box of glow-in-the-dark rosaries and a small collection of strange-looking objects that I’m pretty certain have nothing to do with Catholicism.
 
Our Catholic bookstore( Kaufer’s) is still open and goes the extra mile in customer service. They have taken descriptions of items I hope to find, tracked down versions of what I am looking for, called me at home with descriptions, and then placed orders on my behalf.

I try to support them and Catholic publishing companies as well. I’m grateful for their work and for their presence as a sign in our world.
 
christofirst said:
Happily, we have a Pauline Books and Media store, run by the Daughters of St. Paul, near where I live. One of our local parishes runs a bookstore too, well stocked, and of course the cathedral has a nice book and gift shop. There are several more Catholic book and supply stores which are privately owned here that I am aware of as well (Cotters, for instance). I guess Los Angeles is large enough to support them. A very large Christian bookstore nearby went out of business though, and is now a home improvement center.
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Our Pauline Book Store went out of business last year. They made some bad decisions and the customers (like me) started shopping somewhere else. Our local shop moved several times, without much notice, making them hard to find; the owner had cancer and I think she closed for good because I can’t find them anywhere. There are several other shops in the diocese, but they are too far from home for us to visit. It’s online or catalog sales for me! 🤷
 
When I lived in Phoenix 8 years ago, there were 4-5 good ones I liked to shop at and then many churches had their own book and gift shop so I was in “heaven” because having so many Catholic bookstores played a big part in my coming into full communion with the Catholic church. Before I decided to join I spent several years
browsing the bookstores, first buying pamphlets on how to pray the rosary and then buying rosaries and prayer cards and books of Catholic prayers and books on Mary and purchasing my first Catholic Bibles and many, many books on the Catholic faith, the
Mass, etc.
I know you can buy all these online, but it is not the same as when you can walk into
a Catholic store and actually touch the books and flip through the pages and examine
them closely as with the rosaries and prayer books and books on saints.
I am hoping to return to Phoenix next year and I will be so disappointed if they have all closed!!
When I first moved to my new location, they had a Catholic book and gift shop next to the old church downtown. Unfortunately, they closed it and when the new church and church school were built, they decided not to make space for books and gifts. The office has two bookshelves with a few items, but only a few rosaries, St. Joseph paperback missals, a few Bibles and prayer cards. I was so hoping when the new church was built one of the rooms off the Narthex or the parish hall and school would
be used for a book and gift shop, but, alas, it wasn’t.
 
Not really.

But I must admit I wouldn’t be surprised. Family Christian books store went bankrupt. And most people including me shop online for “Catholic” things.
 
I can only recall a specifically Catholic store of any kind when I lived in Toronto. The small towns I’ve lived in had no such place. These days it’s much easier to just go online and purchase stuff.

Our parish no longer stocks anything like that. It ties up too much money for long periods.
 
I do all my Catholic book shopping online. Perhaps that is why Catholic bookstores are closing.

I’m sure it must be financially difficult to have every book in stock that customers might ask for.

And, thankfully, some large parishes have many bibles and some classics in Catholic spiritual books that are available.

At my age I sure like shopping online!
 
We have a store in town that has been here since before I moved to the area over 20 years ago. It’s moved within the same strip mall to a bigger location. It has everything. If they do not have what you are looking for they will gladly order it. Prayer cards, rosaries(inexpensive to specialty), statues(tiny to parish size), veils, FHC items, home devotional items, etc. Friendly folks.

Also most parishes here have a gift shop.
 
I’m not aware of any specifically Catholic stores around me, but on my way home from a seminary visit yesterday, I saw that a Family Christian Store was in the process of being torn down.
 
We used to have two such stores in our town.

One of them burned down.

The other eventually went out of business. Guess it couldn’t compete with the internet.

Fortunately, we do have a Catholic store at our local retreat center. The monks there, however, mark up the price of the books. I can tell because the last few digits of a bar code is the normal retail price of a book. I don’t mind so much because it is helping keep this store open, and it is the only one in the area.
 
My in-laws owned a Catholic bookstore and inspirational gift shop for many years in two different towns. They couldn’t compete with the internet prices (especially on books) and they eventually retired and closed. Many people were disappointed, but between the overhead costs plus trying to find trustworthy people to staff the stores (Mom and Dad were in their 70s and not able to work long hours and most family members had other jobs) they couldn’t keep it up.
 
We used to have a Daughters of St. Paul bookstore. It was considered the meeting place for orthodox Catholics in the area, and even had an adoration chapel in the back, anyone could use. But it closed. Then there were 2 independent Catholic stores. First one, then the other, went broke. I could browse in any of them, for hours.

When we had big charismatic prayer meetings, I would man the book table for one. Many is the time I would talk to someone who was looking for a book for a certain purpose, or a certain person. If I did not have it I would order it. Many times people would ask about a book, but really that was the intro to many other spiritual needs, and we would pray together about it.

Somehow I suspect this does not happen on Amazon very often.
 
Its a new reality. The brick and mortar stores are closing at an alarming rate. Many of the religious stores just adapted and established presence online to stay open. I think this trend will continue. People are comfortable buying online and there are many internet Catholic stores offering a full range of inspirational gifts and jewelry. Granted you can’t touch an item and make a decision of its quality but many of the stores offer free shipping and returns in case you change your mind. There is EWTN store and others like Rosarycard.net to name a few. Many others are a quick search away. It’s a shame that physical Catholic stores are disappearing but many reinvent themselves into this new reality and thrive online to serve the Catholic community.
 
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