Family Christian Stores Will Be Up for Auction on June 8; Book Vendors Stand to Lose Millions of Dollars in Sale

By Emma Koonse, Christian Post Reporter Thursday, April 16, 2015

Rick Manning of Atlanta, Georgia, looks over a book and other items made about the movie 'The Passion of the Christ' at the Family Christian Bookstore in Buford, Georgia, February 25, 2004. The movie officially opened to the public on Wednesday. — Rick Manning of Atlanta, Georgia, looks over a book and other items made about the movie "The Passion of the Christ" at the Family Christian Bookstore in Buford, Georgia, February 25, 2004. The movie officially opened to the public on Wednesday. | (Photo: Reuters/Tami Chappel)

A Grand Rapids, Michigan judge approved a sales process and schedule on Tuesday for Family Christians Stores, the nation's largest retailer of Christian books that filed for bankruptcy earlier this year.

During the hearing, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge John T. Griggs ruled that the company will be up for auction on June 8. All bids for FCS must be submitted by May 18, just days before the May 21 auction, according to MLive.com. The winning bids will be announced on May 22 with the sale officially scheduled to close on June 8.

FCS filed for bankruptcy after suffering a 10 to 20 percent sales drop in recent years, according to company owner Rick Jackson, and Tuesday's proceedings arrived after FCS came under fire from vendors and lenders who could lose millions due to the bankruptcy filing. Initially, Jackson planned on buying the company at auction through a related firm, Family Christian Acquisitions.

However, the company plans to unload their remaining inventory at the future auction, despite signing a contract that required it to pay the publishers for the products after customers purchased them from their locations. At an auction, the 27 publishers who filed a lawsuit will not have the opportunity to recover their merchandise.

Meanwhile, Jackson previously told The Christian Post of his plan to keep FCS storefronts open, therefore salvaging the jobs of over 4,000 people.

"It's part of our plan, to keep stores open, to keep 4,000 people in jobs, and then all the vendors that rely on us to sell their books and so forth," Jackson told CP on the set of Giving Films' "90 Minutes in Heaven" in February.

"It's a nice brand, we just want to keep going," the businessman continued at the time. "So right now, if the judge approves our plan, in 90 days we will be out and moving on."