Further to my last post, about the (sadly) fictional book Selling Crap to Christians for Fun and Profit, I came across this article in the Los Angeles Times entitled, What would Jesus sell? And now I know it's true - they ARE organised.

Journalist Stephanie Simon visited the International Christian Retail Show (we have to know more) and met Milton Hobbs, who's marketing the first Christian perfume for women.

'Virtuous Woman perfume comes packaged with a passage from Proverbs. But what makes the floral fragrance distinctly Christian, Hobbs said, is that it’s supposed to be a tool for evangelism. "'It should be enticing enough to provoke questions: ‘What’s that you’re wearing?’ " Hobbs said. “Then you take that opportunity to speak of your faith. They’ve opened the door, and now they’re going to get it." '

(Moral of that story: never ask a Christian even the most innocent-sounding question.)

After years of steady growth, the Christian retail market notched $4.3 billion in sales in 2004: "[In the USA] There are Christian health clubs, Christian insurance agencies and Christian tree trimmers (who advertise in Christian business directories). There are Christian alternatives for the most unlikely mainstream products: gangsta rap, shoot-‘em-up video games, sweatbands, playing cards, scrapbook supplies, children’s pajamas."

This blog will try to bring you more on the Christian version of the American Girl dolls (a retail phenomenon). The article says: 'A Life of Faith, like American Girl, publishes historical novels featuring spunky girl characters, then turns the heroines into $100 dolls with lavish wardrobes. In the Christian version, the dolls come clutching Bibles; their stories, sprinkled with Scripture, describe how the girls find sustenance in their faith.'