The Register-Herald, Beckley, West Virginia

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  • Terry Stover, owner of By His Grace Christian bookstore, sets up a going out of business board in Crossroads Mall on Monday. Stover said she is choosing to close because of the country’s economic hardship and the availability of online shopping. Chris Tilley/The Register-Herald

    Christian bookstore
January 8, 2013

By His Grace bookstore scheduled to close Sunday

By Sarah Plummer Register-Herald Reporter

A Christian bookstore with a 40-year history in the Beckley area is preparing to close up shop on Sunday.

By His Grace is located in Crossroads Mall in Mount Hope, but owner Terry Stover, who bought the store in 2005, said it was founded in 1972 and then located near Melton Mortuary in Beckley.

Stover said she is choosing to close because of the country’s economic hardship and the availability of online shopping.

“People go online to get products. I can’t blame them; I do it, too,” she said. “We even have people come in to look at items and tell us they can get it cheaper online, not knowing what it does to local businesses.”

Stover said closing has been especially hard for her because the bookstore has been so much more than a business to her employees and to the community.

“It has been a ministry. We have prayed with people here. We’ve had people call and ask for prayer. People who are going through cancer, depression and grief have come to find books they need to help them through,” she explained.

Lately, she said books on prophecy have been popular.

“People are looking for hope, looking for a purpose in life, and this has been a good place to find purpose and meaning,” she added.

Stover said By His Grace is running a 70 percent discount on cards and church paper products and books are being sold $10 per shopping bag full until Sunday.

Stover asks for the community to continue to pray for those losing their jobs as the store closes and to remember that “Christians still have work to do, no matter what.”

— E-mail: splummer@register-herald.com

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