Christian stores stock up on ‘Narnia’ tie-ins

The HarperCollins imprint is counting on parents and grandparents who enjoyed the Narnia series as children to take their own children and grandchildren to the movie, then buy them the books and tie-in products.

However, not all the Narnia books and merchandise available through Zondervan are aimed at children, Lockhart said.

“The core target audience is in the 5-12 range, but the audience for ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ is of all ages,” he said.

Among the offerings for nostalgic grown-ups is a hardcover set of the series and a softcover guide to Narnia.

The last time a movie’s release had this kind of an impact on sales at Christian retail stores was when “The Passion of the Christ” came out early last year, said Kirk Blank, chief operating officer of Munce Group, an Indian Rocks Beach, Fla.-based marketing group that represents 610 independently owned Christian retailers.

While a huge commercial success, the film’s graphic depiction of Jesus being tortured and crucified earned it an R rating. There will be more marketing opportunities with the family friendly, PG-rated “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.”

“We’re hitting a much bigger audience,” Blank said.

The life cycle of movie tie-ins tends to last much longer in Christian stores than at other retailers, he said, because of the “personal commitment to the story and the content” often experienced by their shoppers.

“In the Christian market, in fact, some of the ‘Passion’ items are still very good-selling products,” Blank said.

To encourage member stores to stock up on Narnia books and merchandise, Munce is holding a contest to see which ones can come up with the best displays. Ten winning stores will be chosen later this month, with each retailer receiving two $500 prize packages — one for store personnel, one for a customer — of Narnia books and CDs provided by Zondervan and other companies.

Some Christian stores are renting out movie theaters and giving away tickets to private showings of “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe,” Blank said.

When the DVD of the movie is released, probably sometime next year, Munce will be ready, he said.

“When that happens, we’ll have another significant push for that for consumers.”

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