19 March 2007

TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN

The Christian Booksellers Association of Southern Africa has served the Christian products industry in this region for more than 40 years through arranging an annual convention, providing a central source of industry information and supplying various training opportunities around the country. Valuable contributions have been made by men and women of stature and many companies have added huge value to all of these activities. It has been a fruitful journey and the association has assisted greatly in getting our industry to where it is today.

We recognise many changes within the industry and have been pursuing an understanding of the future role for the association in the current trading environment. In the light of this we arranged a strategic assessment day for the executive committee with an external facilitator on the 28th of  February 2007. The outcome of our assessment was a thoroughly considered decision by the executive committee to close the association and cease operational activities with immediate effect.

One of the cornerstones of the association has been our annual convention. The way that product information is communicated, the way that trade buying and selling takes place, the downward shift in the number of independent retail buyers, the fact that overseas publishing agencies are more concentrated amongst fewer suppliers and the fact that larger retail chains are providing more in-house training has meant that the convention no longer plays the significant role that it once did.

The CBSA office will be vacated by 31 March 2007. Grant Neuper will be the contact person for any outstanding matters after 31 March. He can be contacted via email at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

Thank you for your involvement with the Christian products industry. May you continue to see progress in your organisation and may you continue to discover fruitful trade relationships on your journey ahead!

Yours sincerely

GRANT NEUPER
PRESIDENT
C B S A