C28

Sadly, when I stopped by yesterday to buy some Easter gifts, this store was closed.

From their profile on the Westfield North County site: «C28/​NOTW is a Christian retail store chain, offering an alternative to the mainstream mall stores. The Christian clothing, music, jewelry and accessories reflect a clean and positive Christian lifestyle. C28 stands for Colossians 2:8, Not Of This World (NOTW), and is all about Jesus.»
As a non-​Christian, I went in with an open-​mind, twice. I’m interested in their aggressiveness as a business that pushes such an image/​belief out there. When you walk in, a nice guy asks if I’ve been there before, and I have, but this is not a typical question asked in most stores. Basically think the typical splashy designs of most modern shirts, but with God or Jesus in mind. Some messages stick their neck out, like «Jesus is my Nirvana» with the Nirvana logo on the shirt (copyright-​infringement maybe?) and a lot are featuring general concepts such as love, strength, truth, and other positive virtues.
I check out all of their designs, their CDs and books, the rubber wristbands with «I Love God» and so forth on them, and pretty much go to leave. The service was pretty much hands-​off, and no question was asked if I was a Christian or not. Even when I took interest in a product, they never asked if I was interested; I don’t know if I came off as a heathen with my tattoos on my arm or something. I thanked him for his help, and then he asked if there’s anything that I needed to pray about for the rest of my day. I had him repeat himself b/​c you don’t get that kind of request from just any store. I politely declined and walked out with an awkward respect for those who work there.

The clothing here is sometimes an iffy, fit, but they always have great deals on shirts. Great friendly staff! So helpful. Love this location one of the best I have been too.