The organization is taking steps to meet customer demand for digital shopping experiences and to expand our reach globally.
The LifeWay Christian Store plans to close at Hamilton Place at the end of May and leave the Chattanooga market without one of its brick-and-mortar units.
Nashville-based LifeWay, which calls itself one of the world's biggest providers of Christian resources, says it's shifting to a new digital era and foresees a smaller physical store footprint.
The move is the latest closure of Christian-themed merchandise retailers in Chattanooga, leaving the so-called buckle of the Bible belt with few such broad-based stores.
Carol Pipes, LifeWay's director of corporate communications, said the Hamilton Place store located adjacent to the mall will close May 31 for the last time.
"The organization is taking steps to meet customer demand for digital shopping experiences and to expand our reach globally," she said.
LifeWay, which traces its roots to the Southern Baptist Convention some 128 years ago, earlier shut a Hixson location. But Lifeway plans to keep open its Cleveland, Tennessee, unit, a store employee said.
Bob Munce, president of the Christian Retail Association in Largo, Florida, said many Christian bookstores and retailers are impacted by online sales just as secular businesses have been with the growth of Amazon and other e-commerce book sellers.
"All brick-and-mortar retail is under pressure," he said, adding there's not a decline in the interest in Christian publications and literature. "It's a change in the way people buy things."
At the same time, Munce said, secular bookstores have started to gain ground again in the last few years.
"That's good. That's positive," he said. "A lot of times, Christian bookstores follow the secular side."
Munce said he's optimistic Christian bookstores will rebound, as such retailers expand their offerings to inspirational gifts and other items.
He said Bible sales at such stores are doing "extremely well."
"It has gotten stronger rather than weaker," Munce said, as buyers seek out expert advice to find the right Bible for them.
Kalie Asher, who works at the Christian Family Bookstore at 5319 Ringgold Road, said that privately held retailer offers a gift section as well Bibles.
Also, she said, there is "a lot of curriculum for adults and children."
Pipes said LifeWay will offer its full array of resources at LifeWay.com and its customer service center.
"We are thankful for the support of our customers and have been honored to be a part of the Chattanooga community," she said.
Stacey Keating, a spokeswoman for Hamilton Place building owner CBL Properties, said it appears LifeWay has been a tenant since 1998.
"We do have a replacement tenant in the works for that space that we will be able to announce once the lease is signed," she said.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.