Augsburg Fortress Canada Sold to David C. Cook Canada

Christian bookstores in Canada now have one less organization in the supply chain. Augsburg Fortress Canada has been purchased by David C. Cook Canada, effective March 1st. The sale includes all of the existing inventory and distribution rights for everything AFC carried including:

• Augsburg
• Fortress Press
• Westminster John Knox
• Abingdon
• Abbey Press Gifts
• Anglican Book Centre
• United Church of Canada Publishing
• Penguin/Random House religious titles (CBA rights only)
• Waterbrook/Multnomah (CBA rights only)

Norm Robertson will continue to call on mainline Protestant and liturgical accounts representing the former AFC product line and any existing Cook products those stores may find of interest. One other former AFC staff member is transferring to Cook.

This also adds a curriculum line and VBS brand to Cook Canada’s already huge stable of Christian Education resources. (The company recently picked up the former Standard Publishing’s Sunday School curriculum.) With Abingdon, it also gives Cook a virtual monopoly on church bulletins and ancillary products.

Not to be overlooked in the deal is the strong success many stores are enjoying with Abbey Press giftware, which will also now be stocked and shipped from Paris, ON to Canadian accounts and will only make the brand more accessible to stores here. 

Anglican and United Church denominational products include a mixture of trade titles and items sold to stores on a short-discount basis.

The sale came about after Augsburg Fortress in Minneapolis had been seeking to shut down the Canadian operation if it could not find a buyer. The AFC retail store in Kitchener, ON has closed and is not part of the transaction. 

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This story is independent of another announcement the same day of the sale of David C. Cook Canada to two members of its Canadian management team.