This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
When Tony Weller asked his father for a five-speed bike in 1972, Sam Weller handed his 10-year-old son a broom and a time card instead.
Thus began the younger Weller's 35-plus-year love affair with books, rare books and bookstores. But not just any bookstore. It's got to be independent. That means untainted by a boardroom mentality that would treat books as just another commodity.
"I believe, in a big way, that books are not the same as clothes or widgets," Weller said this week.
Over the years, he heard about how his father pulled books from the fire that almost devastated the store's Main Street location in 1972. Tony Weller helped the American Booksellers Association trade group in a successful court battle that settled in 2001. The antitrust lawsuit claimed that publishers gave deep discounts to chains and big-box retailers at independents' expense.
Today, in yet another battle for business survival, he's navigating his father's legacy not to mention the livelihoods of his employees and family into a smaller, but more competitive, retail space and a bigger online presence.
Nineteen months ago, the store announced plans to exchange its longtime Main Street headquarters in the David Keith Building for one with free parking and more streamlined inventory space. With little visible movement since then, Weller has had to fend off charges that it was a ploy for attention.
That's why this month's announcement that Weller has sold a portion of its building to co-owners Allan and Rob Dahle is a sign of forward movement for the iconic family-owned Utah business.
What remains is the hunt for a new location, which Weller says is near the finish line, but won't be completed before the holiday shopping season.
Beyond the physical location of the bookstore, Weller still faces the onslaught of competition from the Internet and e-books. He discusses those challenges with confidence, but also a beleaguered weariness.
"It's a business that's forced me to grow up and evolve at almost every turn, so I'm used to it," Weller said. "But if you inherit a bookstore in 2010, you might as well say 'The hell with it,' unless you have a high rate of affection for the trade."
Ten years ago, he noted, the store employed 40 full-time employees. Today that number is down to 18. Without disclosing the sales price of the store's building portion to the Dahles, Weller said it was "considerably less than the original asking price."
The Main Street location Weller characterized as "good" during the 1980s and "tolerable" during the mid-1990s has deteriorated even further, as new construction has siphoned off precious parking space from would-be customers.
The 2005 arrival of an in-store coffee shop helped some, and Weller said he was surprised by an uptick in new book sales once the store merged its used and new inventory. Neither staved the realization that the store's inventory was too large for its own good.
"We will still be the largest independent bookstore in the valley after our move, just not as big as we were in the late '90s when we opened up 2,500 more square feet," Weller said.
Michael Levy, a professor of marketing at Boston's Babson College, has followed the decline of independent booksellers in the face of what he terms the "disruptive" technologies of the Internet.
Levy said bookstores, such as Weller's, face far steeper challenges.
"Even the big chains such as Borders have come around to the realization that they must broaden their appeal as community centers in addition to just a place you can buy books," Levy said. "If they're going to stay in business, they're going to have to take it to the next level even beyond that, and I'm not sure what the next level is."
As one example, Levy cites Boston's Trident Booksellers & Cafe, which doubles as a restaurant. "You browse for books while you're waiting for a table," Levy said. "I've no idea how many books they sell, but that's a perfect example of how these stores will have to morph into any variety of hybrids."
Indie bookstores must also figure out how to provide customers e-books on their own, Levy said, even in the face of mammoth competition from industry leader Amazon.
Weller said he's hired an outside team of experts that's already on the job of innovating more features to the store's current online site. He declined to preview any details.
"I have an enduring faith in books, above all else," Weller said. "Their role in society may be very different in years to come, but we intend to be there."
Sam Weller's Books
Hours • Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
Where • 254 S. Main St., Salt Lake City
Info • Call 801-328-2586 for more information, or visit http://www.samwellers.com