Weller Book Works

Address: 607 Trolley Square

Telephone: 801-328-2586

Website: wellerbookworks.com

District: Central City

 

“Books are the repositories of human hopes and dreams and learning," proclaimed Tony Weller, owner of Weller Book Works. Walking into this shop is like stepping into a world of literary discovery. With its vast collection of new, used, and rare books, the store is an oasis for book lovers, a place where stories of the past and present converge. But behind the shelves lined with countless volumes, the story of Weller Book Works is itself an epic one, spanning multiple generations.

Founded in 1929, the bookstore began as a Mormon-focused shop under the guidance of Tony Weller’s grandfather, a German convert to the Mormon Church. He was not a bookseller by trade but rather stumbled into the profession after a series of other jobs. Despite opening at the cusp of the Great Depression, the business survived. “After about a decade, he decided to try his hand at farming,” Tony explains. “At that point, my grandfather compelled his oldest children to run the bookstore.”

Tony’s father, Sam Weller, was the third child, so initially, the responsibility fell to his older siblings. However, when World War II erupted, everything changed. “My father was drafted into the war, and during that time, other siblings kept the business afloat,” Tony recounts. “At the end of the war, my grandfather decided that his second son, Sam, would take over because the first son wanted nothing to do with it and went off to do other things.”

Returning from the war, Sam Weller brought a fresh perspective to the bookstore. “He was not as strict a Mormon as his father,” Tony notes. “As a GI returning from the war, he was open-spirited, embracing a much larger swath of humanity than I think his father did. He gleefully told stories of selling banned books in the late 1940s and ’50s to trusted customers.”

Sam’s charisma and passion for bookselling were complemented by the sharp business acumen of his wife, Lila Weller. “My mother was extremely well-organized and had a great mind for numbers,” Tony recalls. “The two of them created a brilliant team that made the store a success.” From the 1950s until the early ’60s, they ran the business together, raising their son Tony in the midst of it. In 1962, by the time he was ten, Tony was sweeping floors and alphabetizing books. “I never felt like I was an ambitious reader, but books were all around me,” he admits. “By that age, I had noticed that other kids deferred to me for information because I was a little better reader than your average ten-year-old.” By the time Tony was eleven or twelve, he was “smuggling adult topics so I could learn more.”

The store was originally named Zion Bookstore. In the 1980s, Tony convinced his parents to change the name. While the store still carried an LDS section, the name had begun to deter potential customers who assumed it was strictly a religious shop. “We wanted to open the door to a wider readership,” Tony explains. It was eventually renamed Sam Weller's Zion Bookstore, and later Tony simplified it to Weller Book Works, reflecting its broader literary mission.

Catherine Weller’s journey to bookselling was different. Unlike Tony, she grew up frequenting libraries rather than bookstores. Raised by a single mother, Catherine spent much of her youth working in school libraries and later pursued a career in library sciences. She worked in the medical and law libraries at the University of Utah, navigating the more structured world of archives and cataloging. The bookstore, in contrast, was an entirely new realm - one she had not even considered exploring. “The first time I walked into the bookstore, I was completely overwhelmed,” Catherine recalls. “I actually turned around and walked right back out again.” She had never shopped at the store in her younger years, mistakenly believing it was a strictly Mormon bookstore. “I thought, ‘I’m not Mormon, so why would I go in there?’”

Tony and Catherine had met in 1979 when they were both part of the punk rock scene. After years of moving in the same circles, they married, and the transition into running the family business together felt natural. But 1997 was a turning point. That year, the couple had their first child, Tony’s father went blind, and his mother retired to care for him. Suddenly, Tony was left as the sole operator of the store while Catherine balanced motherhood and gradually reintegrated herself into the business. “It was a topsy-turvy year,” Catherine reflects. “We went from four family members carrying heavy responsibility in the workplace to one. That was a challenging period.”

It was also during this time that their longtime book buyer, Jean McGean, was diagnosed with a fast-progressing cancer. “Jean was a legend among publishers,” Tony says. “And without telling me, she decided that Catherine would be her replacement. She negotiated it behind the scenes before she retired.”

Weller Book Works has weathered its fair share of challenges over the decades. In 1971, a fire devastated the store, nearly destroying it. Tony, then just a child, remembers the chaos vividly. “That was when I learned my father was not a superhero,” he reflects. “I thought he was invincible until I saw that fire.” Yet the resilience of his parents shone through as they immediately began scouting for a new location, salvaging what they could. “He wasn’t even in bed that night before he was looking for the store’s next home.” Some of the most valuable rare books, stored in a turn-of-the-century department store vault, miraculously survived, untouched by smoke and water damage.

Through fires, financial struggles, and an evolving literary landscape, Weller Book Works has remained steadfast, adapting to the times while staying true to its roots. In 2011, the store moved to Trolley Square, a decision that ensured its survival. Though Tony was initially apprehensive about relocating, he now looks back on it with gratitude. “If we hadn’t moved to Trolley Square, we wouldn’t be in business right now,” he admits.

The store itself is a marvel - an enormous, beautifully curated space filled with books across every genre. The selection spans from bargain books at a dollar to rare editions valued in the five-figure range. “We carry new, used, and rare books, and all three components make us outliers in the book industry,” Catherine explains. With 9,000 square feet of space, the store holds somewhere between 65,000 to 75,000 books. Tony compares the various departments to an athletic team. “At different times, one department doesn’t do well and another keeps it afloat.”

One of the hallmarks of the shop is the “Best Weller Book” program, in which staff members nominate books for a store-wide promotion. “Every other month, the staff votes on a book, and we discount it for a few months and promote it in the newsletter,” Tony shares. “Right now, the book is On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder, which was nominated by our youngest bookseller. I don’t think he’s even eighteen yet.”

Politics and religion have always been handled thoughtfully in the store. Tony’s parents were careful about mixing the two, and for a long time, he and Catherine continued that approach. But over time, they realized their mission demanded more. “We didn’t shy away from the topics,” Catherine explains. “We carry it all proudly. We didn’t feel the need to stock ‘both sides’ just for the sake of it. What our parents rejected are now being embraced by our children’s generation.”

As Tony and Catherine continue to shape its future, they hold onto the same passion that has sustained the store for nearly a century. “So many books, so little time.”