Covering the Bases for Bargains in Religion

by Cindy Crosby, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 11/2/2005

Black-and white-clad White Sox fans packed the streets of downtown Chicago at a World Series victory parade on Friday (Oct. 28). Meanwhile, a few blocks away at the Chicago Hilton, CIROBE (the Chicago International Remainder and Overstock Book Exposition) offered black and white in abundance in the form of printed pages. It's been 88 years since the White Sox last won, and 15 years since CIROBE's beginnings.

Over the three-day show (Oct.28-30), teams of general and religion retailers wrote orders for everything from the latest inspirational fiction hardcover, drastically reduced, to Kudzu's offering of more than 75 different types of New Testaments and Bibles from net 60 cents.

The playbook has changed over the years. The bookseller who shopped the exhibits this weekend was as likely to be an online vendor as a bricks-and-mortar store. Mardel superstores buyer Craig Stoll, attending his 13th CIROBE, said he found a home-run buy "that paid for my trip." Although it is still considered an order-writing show, as CIROBE has matured the networking aspect has become increasingly valuable, co-founder Bradley Jonas told RBL.

Joining veteran vendors Eerdmans, Thomas Nelson and Zondervan this year were first-timers Kregel, InterVarsity Press, and Loyola Press. Broadman & Holman, Barbour, Paraclete , Moody, Whitaker House, and Howard rounded out the religion contingent. Crossway executives scouted CIROBE on Friday, considering whether to sign on next year.

There was some grumbling from religion publishers about off-site sales earlier in the week before CIROBE opened, as well as the large break-out rooms that siphoned some buyers off the main show floor. Sunday continues to be mostly a strike-out for religion vendors, perhaps a self-fulfilling prophecy since many exhibitors close down early. But CIROBE co-founders Jonas and Marshall Smith proactively addressed the "slow Sunday" issue this year by inviting Midwest Booksellers Association and Great Lakes Booksellers Association members to attend free, introducing the show to some CIROBE rookies.