Lifeway Christian Stores

i hate to do this.
i love Jesus, but not this place.
i’m writing this purely so that it can be seen by someone who cares and issues be addressed.
i went in here mother’s day weekend with my momma – she really likes books (and Jesus) and we peruse. i wanted to buy quite a few bibles (always good to have plenty on hand incase someone needs one :)) and lucky me, they were having a great sale on some! i stocked up on 10 and headed to the register.
we waited patiently behind a sweet momma with her little boy. he’s a boy, and it’s a quiet book store, he needs to entertain himself – yay that he was playing with his Hulk toy and not mom’s iPhone…
anyhow, in the middle of checking them out, the cashier noticed the customer before left one of her items, so she excused herself to follow the custom to where she was (that was nice, but not the glacial pace she moved at)…while she was gone, forever, the little boy explored – it’s what they do! the mom was trying to get him to come back around to her (he had wandered behind the register area), but like any little boy, he was more interested in the narnia he had just stumbled into. the casher returned and didn’t really address the boy, didn’t say hi, wasn’t friendly, didm’t reassure his mom he was okay, she just said with disapproval ‘ohhh, hmmm’.
c’mon! where’s the banter «oh, you want to ring your mom up?!» or «you want to work here one day?» it’s easy to talk to kids! not for this cashier though… anyway, he finally made his way back to his mom, playing with his Hulk. he sat it on the counter and marched him around (at least Hulk didn’t become angry!), before they left, the casher said in a very monotone and suspicious voice «now, is that his toy?»…seriously! it’s the Hulk! why on earth would lifeway carry the Hulk? a green version of samson?
in the midst of this epically long check out, another casher finally came to check me out at another register.
every few weeks, life way gives you the option to donate $ 5 and have a bible sent to a soldier, a ministry, or a specific country… they ALWAYS ask, and i always say «of course!». i noticed this time you could send a bible to a person in China. i became very excited, and planned on sending 10! (the hubs and i are adopting two children from china and leave in 2 weeks to bring them home!), but the lady checking me out was so uninterested in customer service, or her job, she didn’t ask me. i went home and sent some bibles through another ministry.
all in all, the coldness of this place would send any «seeker» running. it’s a shame. «we» (christians) can do better :(

Typically the customer service here is great. However on a recent visit, I purchased a couple of very expensive items and then got two 2 30% off coupons in my email the next day. I went into the store to either buy new discounted items and return the others at full price or to return and repurchase at the discounted price. The girl working gave me a HUGE guilt trip about wanting to do that (when people do it everywhere all the time). Knowing that a CHRISTIAN store is going to make a customer feel very uncomfortable for trying to save money, I definitely won’t be returning here and would have completely returned my items if I hadn’t needed them last minute for a baptism.

I’ve always been a fan of Lifeway Christian Stores, love their resources!
This store is a good size, clean, and well organized. The employees there are friendly and helpful!
I was looking for a book online and decided to call this store, asking if they had it in stock. The employee said the system indicated that they had 1 in the store. She went to find it on the shelf and when she couldn’t locate it there she took the extra step to look in the stock room. She found it and offered to put it on hold as I told her I’d be there to pick it up in a few hours. I arrived a whiles later, asked for it at the register, paid for it and was out the door in a jiffy!
I’d say my first experience with this store was A-​OK! :)