Christian bookshops - it's about more than books

Christian bookshops - it's about more than books


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Published: 10 December 2009

Manchester is fortunate to have Christian bookshops of excellent quality serving its churches and communities. In difficult times for the retail trade, we discover that St Denys and Wesley Owen have to offer.

St Denys is on Oak St in the northern quarter. Run by Sue Usher and Penny Glover since 1982, it serves the local churches by supplying books, study materials, and church supplies such as wafers, wine and candles.

St Denys has close links with Manchester Diocese, stocking the Diocesan Directory for example. It regularly attends clergy study days and Manchester Theological Society events and has book displays where people can browse and select appropriate theological books or biographies.

Penny explains, “People like to be able to browse a range of study materials before making their selection. You can’t do that on the internet. Our current best sellers are biographies,” adds Sue. “Rowan Williams’ Rowan’s Rule is very popular, as are books about Josephine Butler and Donald Reeves.”

Other hot topics are urban mission and fresh expressions. St Denys has lots of resources to help churches develop their ministries in these areas.

St Denys has noticed that some of its suppliers have folded over the last year as a result of the recession.

Wesley Owen, with local stores on Deansgate, Manchester, and in Stockport and Bolton, is the UK’s largest chain of Christian book stores. The Deansgate store boasts a café that serves delicious coffee.

Wesley Owen’s aims are to be a Christian witness on the High Street, to serve the Church by supplying resources, study notes and books, and to publish and translate the Bible. The business is run as a charity and any profits are invested in Bible translation projects.

Wesley Owen supplies churches with a whole range or materials for people of all ages and publishes titles under the ‘Authentic’ label. This means it can offer products at lower prices. It has its own record label that gives Christian musical artists the opportunity to create CDs and have some of them stocked in non-Christian stores.

Mike Print, Manager of Wesley Owen in Manchester, says trading this year has been challenging.

“If churches want to have Christian books they have to use us”, he says. “If we disappear from the High Street, local churches will lose their bookstalls, discounts and opportunities for browsing. The knock-on effect will be the publication of fewer Christian books and CDs.

Christmas shopping

Visit your local Christian bookshop for your Christmas shopping. They stock books and toys for children, fairtrade Advent calendars, crib sets, nativity mobiles, charity cards and candles, and Wesley Owen has 3 for 2 offers on books.

Both bookshops can supply your local church bookstall. Contact them to find out more.

St Denys, 11 Oak Street, M4 5JD; Tel: 0161 835 1069;
Open Mon-Fri 9am-5pm, Sat 9am-1pm.

Wesley-Owen, 123 Deansgate, M3 2BY; Tel: 0161 834 4655
Open Mon-Sat 9.30am-5.30pm.


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