St. John's religious shop moves to new location, draws customers from far and wide

When Barb DiVincenzo looked down at her feet and saw a penny that had been flattened and inscribed with The Lord's Prayer, she knew she had found the new location for St. John's Religious Shoppe and Bookstore. Previously located in the basement of St. John The Evangelist Church of Spencerport on Martha Street, the 26-year-old shop had to either close or move after the village fire marshall report indicated that it had become too crowded to be safe. Church volunteers sprang into action, making a list of sites available for rent and then visiting each of them.

"As we were listening to the landlord's representative for 409 South Union Street (the old town hall), I looked down at my feet and saw a coin," remembered DiVincenzo, the store's manager. "When I picked up the coin, I found it had The Lord's Prayer imprinted on it. Everything from that point on fell into place."

An advertisement for store fixtures was spotted in a local paper, so the group's next move was to visit The Music Lover's Shoppe before it moved to its new location at 12 Corners in Brighton. "We found all the fixtures we needed to get us started," said DiVincenzo. Then moving day came and there was no problem finding volunteers to set up shop. September 8, less than two months after the decision was made to close, the new St. John's Religious Shoppe and Bookstore was open for business.

The store, which now features over 14,000 items, started from humble beginnings. It was the summer of 1974 and Anne Klein, president of the St. John's Ladies' Group at the time, had called a meeting to plan a craft show for the first weekend in November. Many people showed up and many suggestions were made, including one by Christine Richards, who asked if a table could be set up featuring religious items. The table was so successful that the Finance Committee of the Parish Council agreed to use the profits to buy more items and set up shop in the church basement. Rita Richards managed and volunteers ran the shop, which was open on Saturday and Sunday mornings.

At the time, the main purpose of the store was to provide parishioners with a convenient place to purchase reasonably priced religious items. But word of the shop soon spread and people of other faiths and areas would stop by. "It is and always has been a Christian store," said DiVincenzo. "We have Catholic products, but reach out to all faiths."

DiVincenzo took over the store in 1990, just at the time when it was at risk of closing permanently. The shop had to be closed temporarily so that air conditioning could be installed and its managers retired at the time. "I thought it would be a shame to let (the shop) die after all the efforts of the past, so I offered to help reopen it," she said. Over the years, the shop has become a true "labor of love" for DiVincenzo and now her husband, Dominic, as well. Each volunteering 40 to 45 hours a week, the couple is used to working as a team. Before, "retiring," Dominic was a physician and his wife helped him in his office for 14 years.

At the new shop, the couple has the help of 30 volunteers who come at various times to wait on customers - shoppers who now come from as far as Buffalo, Batavia, LeRoy, the Southern Tier, Fairport, Pittsford and beyond. "A lot of people didn't know about the shop before the move and are discovering us for the first time," said Barb DiVincenzo.

In addition to religious theme audio and video tapes, gift items, cards, jewelry, baby/christening items and a special wedding/anniversary section, the shop features an entire room devoted to religious books. If a customer cannot find a particular item, DiVincenzo, who is responsible for purchasing and overseeing operations, will special order it.

While most new businesses have the first dollar earned framed and displayed at the cash register, St. John's Religious Shoppe and Bookstore has a framed coin - the coin Barb DiVincenzo found on that first day. "The coin is there for all to see because we feel the Lord has guided this ministry from its conception and we continue to seek His help in all that we do."

The shop is open Tuesdays and Fridays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. It will be closed for the holiday season from Sunday, December 24 to Thursday, January 4 and will reopen on Friday, January 5.