What’s in a Name?
Could our Adventist Book Centers be going through a name change?
By Taashi Rowe
As the Columbia Union’s five remaining ABCs continue to find ways to grow their audience, two have chosen to focus on their name. When the New Jersey Conference moved their office two blocks up the street, the Review and Herald Publishing Association, who manages it, reopened the ABC in 2011 under a new name—Revive. Mattias and Carolina De Paoli, who recently became store managers, said that, for the first year, the new name did not take off until they added “ABC” back into the title. “When you Google the name ‘ABC,’ you’ll find an alcohol store, so those who are not Adventist may not know that we are a health food store,” Carolina says. “Now that we’ve changed the name to Revive ABC, we answer the phone by adding the slogan ‘hope and health for you and your loved ones.’”
After doing some market research, Lisa Myaing, manager of the Potomac ABC, discovered, “Our name, at best, is confusing to people and, at worse, it downright turns people away. Some see the name ‘Adventists’ and think the store is only for church members, others don’t know who Adventists are and others don’t even realize that we are a health food store,” she says. By changing the name “we are not moving away from the Adventist message. We are trying to bring more people to it.”
Myaing says they are in the process of choosing their new name and will announce it soon.
Visitor Facebook Poll:
Where do you buy Christian books?
66%—Amazon (many for their Kindles)
33%—Publishers, local Christian stores, or other websites
26%—Adventist Book Center
Weigh in at facebook.com/columbiaunionvisitor.com.
Read these other articles from the March Visitor:
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