Serving the Church of the Carolinas and the Southern US for 19 years, In His Name Catholic Store is thought to be the state's largest Catholic-oriented shop. It has been serving the churches and people of the Raleigh, NC Diocese since 1991 and is one of the oldest Catholic stores on the web.
The Catholic religious goods store got its start 35 years ago, when the Gibbons family relocated from New Jersey, a state rich in Catholics, to the predominantly Protestant North Carolina. In November 1991, Marguerite Gibbons opened the store on Capital Boulevard, just north of the former Plantation Inn motel. The 800 sq. ft. store was smaller than the current store's break room. Having always been involved in church life, Gibbons received support and encouragement from many of her close friends and fellow Catholics, not only as customers, but also as volunteer employees, cabinetmakers, and painters. "I just wanted a Catholic presence in the area," explains Gibbons. "We didn't make a profit for five years and no one got paid. I have a lot of friends and, God bless them, they helped out when we were in a hole." In 1993, her husband Tom Sr. retired and joined the company.
In 1993, the State of North Carolina advised the Gibbons that the location she was occupying was to be leveled to make way for the new Interstate 540. They moved to the Six Forks at Newton Center and a 1,600 sq. ft. facility in 1996. By 2001, the store again had growing pains and was relocated within the same shopping center to a 3,400 sq. ft. facility.
In October 2000, In His Name ventured into the information age. The Gibbons’ son Tom Jr. and his sister Marguerite, president of the corporation, got the website up and running, which has steadily grown and has allowed the store to reach others in North Carolina and elsewhere not able to visit them in north Raleigh.
The North Raleigh shop has a wide variety of crucifixes, rosaries, teaching materials, music and books. Looking for something special? The store can get it for you. It has helped thousands of people locate hard to find items. In His Name regularly keeps priests and churches within their diocese abreast of new store items. It is currently serving over 75 parishes in the diocese and a number of churches, many non-Catholic, outside the diocese and the state. The store has helped sponsor several sell-out concerts, featuring such artists as John Michael Talbot, Tony Melendez, Tom Booth and Kathy Troccoli.
The In His Name Donation Program makes donations to Catholic parishes, parochial schools, Catholic campus ministries and other approved Catholic or Christian non-profit groups. Organizations that join the program just have to place a link to In His Name (www.inhisname.com) on their website. Then each time someone clicks on the link and makes an online purchase, In His Name, Inc. will donate 5% of the sale to the member organization.
In His Name's mission is to strengthen people's relationship with God and spread Jesus Christ's message to the world. It is essential to their mission not only to provide their customers with superior products, but also to be gracious and truthful in all their interactions.
Elaborating on the mission, Ambrozevitch notes, "It's been my experience in other business situations, such as catering, retail, and hotel, that you look at your customers 'wants' and then find what you have or can do to fill that 'want.' While there is some of that here, it's frequently a much more personal need that people have. Sometimes – and it's more often than one would guess – they have questions, hopes, and even fears tied up in a trip to the store. It's then that the staff and the family are asked to be more than retailers."
For more information on In His Name please visit www.inhisname.com. You may also find the store on Facebook and follow it on Twitter.
