February 5 1996

ARTICLE TOOLS

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Cook Communications, the nation's top Sunday-school curriculum publisher, has strengthened its market position with the December purchase of Scripture Press/Victor Books (SP) of Wheaton, Illinois.

Cook, which moved to Colorado Springs from Elgin, Illinois, last May, plans to relocate SP this summer, although a small number of distribution and shipping employees likely will remain behind. SP has the equivalent of 155 full-time employees. Cook has 1,000 employees, including 350 at the Siloam Springs, Arkansas-based Dayspring Greeting Cards, purchased in 1987.

Dan Brokke, Cook senior vice president, told CT that there will be a reduction in SP personnel because the two firms publish similar material. "We won't have to downsize by intention," Brokke says. "Some will choose not to move." Others will be asked to be retrained in different jobs. Terms of the purchase were not disclosed. Cook, founded in 1875, has annual sales of $120 million. SP, started in 1934, has annual sales of $20 million.