Prompted by the bad economy and the changing nature of the bookstore business, Sam Weller's Zion Bookstore is preparing to leave the downtown Salt Lake City location that it has occupied for the past 48 years.

Tony Weller, who now runs the bookstore founded by his grandfather Gus and made famous by his father Sam Weller, said the search is now on for a new and hopefully better location somewhere in the downtown area.

"It is time for us to begin evolving and preparing for the next millennium," Weller said. "I was brought up with the notion you should carry as many books as possible. If you were going to carry cook books, well you needed to have 600 of them. And once upon a time, there were enough bibliophiles around to support that kind of business."

While many readers still appreciate walking the aisles of a bookstore and browsing, more and more shoppers are content to shop for books online, he said. "It has made our business model based upon offering an abundance of books unsustainable."

Weller said the bookstore he and his wife Catherine envision opening in a new downtown location will offer a "well selected" mix of new, used and rare books instead of carrying "everything."

In preparation for moving, Weller said he is discussing with his partners the possibility of selling the downtown David Keith Building that has housed Sam Weller's Bookstore since 1961. The Wellers and the Dahle family, which at one time operated the nearby Dahle's Big and Tall men's store, have co-owned the property since the late 1970s.

Anne Holman, manager of The King's English Bookshop, understands well the challenges that Sam Weller's Bookstore is facing.

The King's English, like many book sellers, also is feeling the effects of a bad economy. "Sales are down," she said. As a result, she said the store is stocking fewer titles; less expensive paperbacks are selling better than hardcovers.

Long-time Sam Weller's customer Jeff Allen of West Jordan, who works down the street in the Chase Building for PricewaterhouseCoopers and was waiting to catch a TRAX train Thursday evening, said he has many memories of the store. "They have rare, old books you can't find anywhere else. I hope they don't get rid of that part."

And Viking Lilly, the bar manager for the Keys on Main restaurant and private club next door, was visibly disappointed by the news that his neighbor will be leaving.

"Bummer. They're a landmark. That's sad to hear. This area for retail is tough right now. We're all waiting for City Creek," he said of the multibillion-dollar retail, housing and office center being developed north on Main Street by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that isn't scheduled to open until 2012.

Weller noted that Sam Weller's Bookstore current location is actually the fourth for the family-owned business. "It's the fifth, if you include the temporary space we occupied while this location was being restored following the four-alarm fire of 1972."

Scott Brady, a retail specialist with Commerce CRG, said one problem plaguing many Main Street tenants such as Sam Weller's is parking. "Parking is a real issue," he said. "Most shoppers don't want to have to hunt for a spot," he said. "They want it to be easy."

Many shoppers, he said, will forgo shopping at a place where they have to hunt for a spot in favor of a shopping mall with a parking lot or garage, or a store that has its own parking lot.

Reporter Lesley Mitchell and Business Editor Michael Limon contributed to this story.