Founded in 1976 in Knoxville, Tennessee, Cedar Springs Christian Store is more than a Christian bookstore. It’s a business that’s also a ministry.
“We’re just here to bring Christian products to the community and help disciple people in this area with the products that we have,” says Vicki Geist, who operates the store with her brother, Link McGinnis.
Vicki and Link grew up in the family business, and Vicki went to work in the store at the age of 16. She inherited her father’s entrepreneurial spirit.
“I loved it and I still love it,” Vicki says. “People ask me, ‘Are you going to retire?’ but I have no reason to retire. God has called me to this and until he calls me out this is where I’ll be as long as I’m healthy enough to do it.”
Vicki Geist (center) joins her brother Link McGinnis (right) and Joy 620 morning show host Bob Bell at a Listener Appreciation event at Cedar Springs Christian Store.
Committed to the Cause
Cedar Springs Christian Store started small, with operations squeezed into a 1,200-square-foot space in West Knoxville’s Cedar Springs Shopping Center. Curtis McGinnis, a machinist by trade, had sensed a divine calling to create a space where believers could find not only Bibles and books, but also wholesome gifts and décor for their homes, all in a welcoming environment.
Turned down for loans by more than one financial institution, he found the support he needed from a banker friend in nearby Oak Ridge. It was all Curtis and his wife Lois needed to launch a vision.
God blessed and business grew, with the family purchasing extra retail space when other businesses in the shopping center at the time moved on. Eventually, it was time for Cedar Springs Christian Store to move on, too.
North Peters Road is a busy thoroughfare today, but in the early 1990’s it was only a rest stop for truck drivers. The road itself didn’t even exist – only a pull-off known as Truckers Lane.
Hearing that a new road was going to be built there, the McGinnis family took a leap of faith and purchased property. In 1995, Cedar Springs Christian Store moved to its current location at 504 North Peters Road.
Continuing to follow the calling God had given Curtis, the family settled into a spacious 30,000-square-foot building. The new retail floor space was about 16,000 square feet, a vast area when compared to other Christian stores.
A New Millenium and a New Challenge
A few years later and after the turn of the century, Cedar Springs Christian Store began to face a new challenge. Shopping online became a hot trend, and it was a trend that turned into a new way of life.
Many brick and mortar stores began to feel the strain of trying to compete with the lure of convenient shopping on a computer or smartphone. Cedar Springs Christian Store was no exception.
The McGinnis family held on, at times very uncertain about God’s timeline for them. Was God removing His hand from the homegrown business and ministry?
“We thought He was finished, that He was ready for us to move on to something else either in another place or not at all,” Vicki says, “but He wasn’t.”
Facing potential closure, Cedar Springs Christian Store received unexpected news in 2018 that the local Lifeway store would shut down. There would then be no other store in the Knoxville area where people could have access to the many products and services offered at Cedar Springs.
Meeting Needs in the Church Community and Beyond
God provided a path for the store to stay open and grow. As each member of the family has remained faithful to what God wanted them to do, God has given the increase.
“We have gifts, we have Bibles, we have books, we have kids’ books, we have church supplies,” Vicki says. “We do special orders every day. We engrave Bibles, which is hard to find anymore, so we kind of do it all.”
Cedar Springs Christian Store serves as a resource for homeschooling. Parents can share their books and materials with others who are called to teach kids outside the traditional classroom.
A dedicated team of employees, some with more than 20 years of service at the store, help customers find what they need both in merchandise and in spiritual guidance.
And keeping up with the modern age, there’s an online store where business is also thriving.
Vicki reflects on the store’s journey, seeing God’s hand in every step. From her father’s vision to modern challenges, Cedar Springs Christian Store shows no signs of slowing down or fading away.
“We held on, and I just look back and see God’s hand in the whole thing. It’s amazing,” Vicki says.
Going Forward with Grace
Cedar Springs Christian Store is the largest Christian bookstore in the United States. Vicki might tell you what matters more is that it’s a place where faith and community come together.
“People who walk in here from other areas say, ‘We don’t have a bookstore like this,’ and I tell them, ‘Nobody has a bookstore like this.’”
It’s not pride that prompts her response so much as it is gratitude. The McGinnis family has had both the responsibility and the blessing of following a calling from God, filling a need in the Knoxville area and beyond.
“If you’re calling on Him and praying about what to do, walking with Him, you may not know what that next step looks like, but keep walking and He will work out those details. That’s what he did here,” Vicki says with a smile.
To learn more about the products and services at Cedar Springs Christian Store, visit the store’s website or visit in person at 504 N. Peters Rd., Knoxville, TN.
The post Portraits of Faith and Hope: The McGinnis Family first appeared on Joy 620 WRJZ.