and distribution efforts of Methodist Publishing grew that there would need to be a sharper distinction between those efforts. The first use of the name Cokesbury for a specific store occurred in 1925 when Bliss Albright, the retail manager at the Dallas Store, put a sign in the window reading "Cokesbury Press", named so because of the 1923 decision by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. This later became Cokesbury Book Store. It was during this time that manager Lovick Pierce, who would later become the president of the Publishing House, put the Dallas store in the national and international spotlight. This prominence, as one of the nation's leading Christian bookstores, would not fade for decades to come. In fact, it is probably in part due to the success of the Dallas store that by 1950 it was instructed that all retail stores would be called a 'Cokesbury Book Store', a move which coincided with the 1954 decision to rename Abingdon-Cokesbury Press simply Abingdon. Since its inception, Cokesbury has been the largest source of net income for UMPH. Indeed, former Dallas manager and president of UMPH Lovick Pierce said as he was departing his position in 1970, "As Cokesbury retail sales go, so goes the Publishing House". It was during Pierce's time that Cokesbury expanded its retail centers, broaden its statement of faith, and actively pursue both United Methodist and non-Methodist churches in a consultative mode. By 1976 there were 28 Cokesbury stores in 26 cities. This number would eventually double over Cokesbury's retail history. In 1986, Cokesbury launched a toll-free telephone number for customers to call in their orders: 1-800-672-1789. The last four digits reflect the official origins of UMPH. This number is still the number for the contact center. On November 5, 2012, Cokesbury made a critical decision to shut down all of their physical stores, a total of 57. Nineteen of the stores were situated at seminaries across the US. The decision was made unanimously by the UMPH board due to growing digital market, the increase on online book selling, and unsustainable cost of keeping the stores open given those prior factors. One April 27, 2013, the last six Cokesbury stores were closed. Cokesbury has now shifted its focus largely to online sales and church consulting. In addition to extending call center hours, Cokesbury has deployed over fifty national representatives called Community Resource Consultants as well as Nashville