In 1991, the North Carolina Catholic population was
less than 1 percent of the total population of the state. Raleigh,
NC and the surrounding areas did not have access to Catholic
merchandise except if a parish had a small shop. With the influx of
more Catholics migrating from the north it became evident there was
a need for such materials.
In November of that year a Catholic store opened in a remote
section of Raleigh in an 800 square foot facility. Marguerite
Gibbons agreed to manage the business and began her career as a
merchandiser of all things Catholic. Having always been involved in
church life, she received support and encouragement from many of her
close friends and fellow Catholics, not only as customers, but also
as volunteer employees, cabinet makers, painters etc.
Marguerite spent a great deal of time at the public library
seeking suppliers, researching books, and learning all she could to
make the venture a success and succeed it did!
In 1993, three significant opportunities occurred. Mrs. Gibbons
had the opportunity to purchase the business. The State of North
Carolina advised her that the location she was occupying was to be
razed to make way for a new Highway. And her husband, Tom Sr.
retired from industry and joined the company.
The store was renamed, incorporated, and became "In His Name,
Inc." Then came a move to 1600 square foot facilities in a more
central location between three churches. By 2001, the store again
had growing pains and was relocated within the same shopping mall to
a 3400 square foot facility.
Along with the above physical growth was the need to track sales,
inventory, purchasing etc. This was accomplished with both computer,
hardware and software installation (including the usual hiccups).
Fortunately, God blessed us with very bright children and
grandchildren. Our son, Tom Jr., an employee of a hi-tech computer
company moved to Raleigh and was instrumental in our successful
application of a computer system which now has a database of over
36,000 products.
In addition, he and his sister Marguerite (now president of our
corporation and fulltime employee) got our website up and running
which has steadily grown and has allowed us to reach others in North
Carolina (and elsewhere) not able to visit our store in north
Raleigh.
In 2008, we opened a second store in Cary, NC to better serve the large Catholic population in the Cary/Apex area. In addition, we have an offsite store, located at
Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Rocky Mount, NC, which gives us exposure to customers who cannot travel
to Raleigh or Cary for their Catholic supplies.
We currently have 7 dedicated fulltime associates and 7 part
timers.
We are currently serving over 75 parishes in our diocese and a
number of churches (many non-catholic) outside the Diocese and the
state.
In order to better serve our parishes we have published our first
church goods catalog this year with some of our fellow members of
Natioal Church Goods Association.
Our Motto: We do what we do "In HIS Name."
Thank You for shopping with us at In His Name!
God's blessings to you & yours!
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