Family Christian closing all 240 stores, including 5 in metro Atlanta

In this 2004 file photo inside the former Family Christian Store near Perimeter Mall, Karissa Walker, 9, looks at a pictorial book about the making of 'The Passion of the Christ' as sales clerk Kevin Keene looks on. All 240 of store’s locations nationwide are set to close.

Credit: JOHN AMIS

Credit: JOHN AMIS

In this 2004 file photo inside the former Family Christian Store near Perimeter Mall, Karissa Walker, 9, looks at a pictorial book about the making of 'The Passion of the Christ' as sales clerk Kevin Keene looks on. All 240 of store’s locations nationwide are set to close.

After 85 years in business, Michigan-based Family Christian Stores is shuttering all 240 of its locations nationwide, including five in metro Atlanta.

The company has locations in Duluth, Stone Mountain, Kennesaw, Austell and Alpharetta, according to its website.

A spokesperson for the company could not be immediately reached.

“It has been a privilege to serve alongside our many partners in helping people find, grow, share and celebrate their faith,” spokeswoman Mary Beth Googasian said in an automatic email reply.

The company employs 3,000 people in 36 states, but couldn't recover two years after filing for bankruptcy protection, company president Chuck Bengochea told Christianity Today.

Employees at Family Christian’s Alpharetta location haven’t yet been given closing information and don’t know how much longer the store will be open, a manager said.

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