It is with genuine sadness that I have watched the Living Oasis experiment fail - not for NCT as I believe their vision was flawed from the start in planning to de-christianise the fronts of their shops, relying on inward investment at a time of austerity, and so many places really do not need another coffee shop - my sadness is for the staff and the customers who yet again find themselves with either no job or no Christian bookshop.

As far as his comment regarding “We do not think bookshops have a future in the current climate, Christian bookshops are going to struggle"
Firstly if we go now in the 'current climate' it is doubtful there will be a way back should the climate change.

Secondly yes it is a struggle, and unfortunately some will fail, but all those Christian booksellers I know felt called by God to serve their local communities. As long as we feel God's calling on our lives then Christian bookshops will fight on - we have an incredibly loyal customer base built on a common belief, trust, good service,local knowledge grown from our relationships and friendship - this is why we survive. We stand out in our communities as Christians, we do not try to hide it.

Or a case of 'the emperors new clothes' with Ray George being the only person to say what everyone else is thinking - in public at least - that Christian retail is no longer viable.

Echoes of Mr Danbys words a few years ago I think. Whatever you think of them they are both experienced business people who would love the truth to be different.

As in so many things, the truth in relation to the viability of Christian retailing is not simple.
It *can* be viable, given certain factors. These were spelled out by another contributor to the debate at the time of the original closure of the Wesley Owen chain. Note that at least one of these factors must be true - not all, though I'll come on to the most important ones later.
1) Non-existent or peppercorn rents
2) Mainly or entirely volunteer staff
3) Charity status
4) Nearby university
5) Large and enthusiastic church support
I would now from experience add two additional factors –
6) situated in a significantly multi-ethnic area and geared towards that population
7) enthusiastic but market-savvy management.
It is almost certainly true that Christian retailing in the UK is not viable in a secular sense. From a purely financial perspective, I am forced to the conclusion that part of the problem has to be the discount structure we have to live with. Discounts available are normally in the range 35% to 50% though the higher end has to be fought for. At a turnover level of £100K, this means that only say £40K is available to fund everything. (OK this is simplistic but it sets the scene). If you take from this the costs of utilities, rates (and charity status helps here of course), and VAT then there ain’t much left for wages & rents.
This then sheds light on the factors enumerated above. 1) and 2) are absolutely essential , 3) is also critical, and the others help to increase the overall turnover, thus releasing additional funds.

Thebigman - no emperors round here I'm afraid and I don't think Christian bookselling is dead but it is in transition along with all small indie bookselling these days.

Sorry Amos - have to disagree with you, I'm doing ok and not using either 1, 2 or 3 - we do have a university but it doesn't really offer theology, we do have church support but as to whether the first two words fit that's another question, Lincoln's not best know for it's multi-ethnic population and I don't carry polish books, but I would hope I do fit criteria no. 7!

As to the margins you state - sadly they are par for the course in even indie general bookselling largely these days and are something I do think need addressing across the industry.

The truth is by and large the days of Large Chain bookselling, let alone Christian bookselling, seem to have been and gone as a stand alone business - if that's what's meant by Danby and George then they are probably spot on.

However when they generalise to all then they are wrong, as John and others have said the indie's are in some places doing well, in other places holding their own, and in some cases just hanging on - it is largely a matter of change and the ability to adapt, especially in this beleagured economy, but Christian bookselling is not yet dead and rumours of it's demise are yet premature, how many years actually do we have to listen to this echoing refrain?

It seems to me the only ones saying it can't be done are those that have failed at it and in the immortal words of the Chinese proverb - those that say it cannot be done should get out of the way of those doing it.

Sadly when they do get out of the way they tend to be leaving a bit of a bloody trail behind them and this is the pity of it.

Amos - in these days of Kindle and secularisation I'm not sure a sizeable university population is really a big help, if it is I can't say i'm noticing it that strongly - I would still think it needs to be a theologically or philosophically interested university capture.