Lifeway Christian Bookstore closures include two in the Triangle, three in Charlotte area
Lifeway Christian Resources announced on Wednesday that it will close all 170 brick-and-mortar Lifeway Christian Bookstores in the United States.
Lifeway has 12 stores in North Carolina, according to its website. Two of those are in the Triangle (Raleigh and Cary) and three are in the Charlotte metro area (Charlotte, Gastonia and Pineville).
The announcement on the Lifeway site said that the stores will close in 2019 but gave no specific timetable beyond that.
Lifeway says it will continue to sell books online at LifeWay.com, through their Customer Service Center and through a “network of church partners who work directly with churches.”
Lifeway’s acting president and CEO Brad Waggoner said in the news release that the company’s retail strategy going forward will focus on digital channels.
“LifeWay is moving into a new era with a strategic digital focus that will prepare us for the future and allow us to better serve our customers,” Waggoner said.
This week’s news release noted that the company had previously announced in January that it would be closing some stores this year because of declining customer traffic and sales.
This story was originally published March 21, 2019 at 12:32 PM.
