Saint Meinrad Archabbey Gift Shop, St. Meinrad, IN, will soon be reconfigured to better meet the needs of its core customers, including guests, retreatants, and students. The Gift Shop will move from its current location along Highway 545 to combine with the Scholar Shop, the student bookstore, located on the first floor of Newman Hall within the Seminary and School of Theology. The Scholar Shop will be renamed Saint Meinrad Books and Gifts. The Gift Shop will close its doors on March 31, 2024. The move to its new location is projected to be complete in April.
The Gift Shop began as an outlet store for Abbey Press catalog merchandise in 1973, and at one time had locations in Louisville, KY, and Evansville, IN. Since the closure of Abbey Press in 2017, the Gift Shop has continued to operate by offering a wide variety of inspirational and religious merchandise. Recently, there has been careful consideration on how best to move the business forward while supporting the monks of Saint Meinrad Archabbey and their mission of prayer and work.
The consolidation will provide a space that is more manageable, centrally located, and easily accessible for visitors, retreatants, and students of Saint Meinrad. The new location will continue to offer Saint Meinrad gifts and apparel, monastery-made items, inspirational books, and sacramental gifts. Proceeds from the shop will continue to support the monks of Saint Meinrad Archabbey.
The Abbey Casket showroom, currently located in the Gift Shop building, will relocate to the recently refurbished lower level of the Abbey Barn.
In preparation for the consolidation, the Gift Shop will be having an inventory reduction sale beginning on November 11, 2023.