The Olive Branch Adapts with the Times

Christian-oriented book and gift stores have been declining on Long Island for the past two decades, with the number dwindling to a precious few across Nassau and Suffolk counties. One establishment that has bucked the trend is New Hyde Park-based The Olive Branch, which continues to sell Christian books, Bibles, music and videos, gifts, home décor, jewelry, cards, apparel and Church supplies.

The name Olive Branch is intended to convey “a place of peace, a place of refuge,” according to owner Herb VanHooser, who has operated Olive Branch since it opened in 1987. The original location was on Hillside Avenue; it moved to a larger location at 1014 Jericho Turnpike (corner of South 12th Street) in 1995.

Many independent bookstores have been replaced by the likes of Barnes & Noble in recent years. To stay relevant in a world of major retailers and Amazon.com, The Olive Branch has had to adapt.

Whereas books and music were big sellers in the early days, gifts (30 percent of the store's business) and church supplies (20 to 25 percent) have become a much larger percentage of the mix. Gifts range from Christmas ornaments, angel figures, wall art, mugs and the popular Willow Tree figurines.

One good thing about the decline in Christian gift and bookstores is that The Olive Branch does not have as much competition in its niche. It dominates the church supplies market, serving about 150 churches in the area. The supplies include church bulletins, offering envelopes, communion supplies, choir robes and Sunday School curriculum. The Olive Branch is a center of activity for Vacation Bible School for churches as well. The first Saturday in March The Olive Branch holds a preview of that summer’s VBS curriculum at the .

On its website, The Olive Branch even lays out a sixth-month planner for churches. For example, it suggests that four to six months prior to the event VBS leadership should set dates for the program, publicize the dates to the congregation (and to The Olive Branch) in order to get the word out.

“At this point start looking at which VBS program you might want to use and order your VBS materials before they are sold out -- they do go quickly,” the website said. 

Two months prior, it recommends distributing registration forms, creating daily schedules for VBS week, ramping up the publicity and filling all teaching staff positions.

In another effort to stay up with the times, The Olive Branch has turned to social media. Its Facebook page markets its products and services.

“It’s a wonderful way to communicate with people, but you have to incentivize them,” VanHooser said.

The Olive Branch is currently running a $5-off incentive for anyone who comes into the store and mentions they saw the promotion on Facebook.

“Even if the item is $5, they’ll get $5 off, so in that case it would be free,” VanHooser said.

While he has not seen enough data to measure the success of Facebook, he knows his business needs it.

"In the old days it was location, location, location,” he said. “Today it is exposure, exposure, exposure.”

The Olive Branch is open Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Thursday from 10 a.m. to 7:30 p.m. For information, call 516-775-7040 or visit them on the web at olivebranchny.com.