Parable Boldly Creates Separate Catalog Company

ICC Provides “Good, Cheap Catalogs…And Nothing Else”

San Luis Obispo, CA—In order to meet the needs of some independent Christian booksellers who want good, cheap catalogs and no other marketing services, Parable Holdings, Inc., the parent of The Parable Group, announced the formation of a separate company called Independent Christian Catalogs (ICC), a Nashville-based company providing high-quality, low priced catalogs to independent booksellers. ICC will do what The Parable Group did more than 16 years ago; provide good, cheap catalogs…and nothing else.

Parable created ICC after conducting extensive surveys of hundreds of independent Christian retailers. Parable concluded that many retailers do not want or need the full line up of marketing services offered by The Parable Group, like e-commerce sites, product exclusives, point-of-purchase advertising pieces and POS data collection. “Some smaller and medium-sized retailers just want the bare marketing minimum,” says Jim Seybert, Parable’s Vice President of Business Development. “Parable created ICC just to serve this specific constituency—those who want good, cheap catalogs…and nothing else.”

Parable sees ICC as a compliment to its current services rather than a threat. “Parable is known in the marketplace for its visionary thinking,” adds Seybert. “Currently, there is no one who is providing a catalog-only service to this sizable market. We believe both Parable and ICC will be on the cutting edge of direct marketing retailing—whether you want the full seven course meal or the a la carte menu.”

Joe Questel, formerly an executive with Spring Arbor and Broadman & Holman, is the president of ICC. ICC aims to produce lowest-cost catalogs for small- to medium-size stores on a per-purchase basis with no membership requirements. “We want to serve the independent bookseller while allowing them to remain independent,” says Questel. “Our industry is still comprised of a lot of independents and we want to give them access to a great catalog while at the same time allowing them to do so without the benefit of a group-type arrangement.”

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ICC Announcement, page two

Parable Holdings, Inc., is the parent company of ICC, The Parable Group, Parable Interactive, Parable Christian Stores, and Parable Advertising Agency. Parable Christian Stores, the largest business of Parable Holdings, consists of more than 300 independently owned Christian retail outlets located in the U.S. and Canada and is serviced by The Parable Group. The Parable Group provides diverse marketing tools for its member stores such as in-store merchandising kits, exclusive products, weekly bestseller lists and catalogs. In 2000, The Parable Group shipped more than 29.7 million catalogs, newspaper inserts, and other promotional mailings in 25 marketing campaigns. Parable Interactive provides full-service e-commerce sites for Parable Christian Stores and national ministries and non-profits, such as Prison Fellowship, PAX Internet, CBN-TV and ZJam Radio. Parable represents more than $400,000,000 in annual sales of Christian products to consumers.

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June 7, 2001