The story of SLC’s Weller Book Works after 95 years of business

SALT LAKE CITY — A legendary book store in Salt Lake City celebrated 95 years of business Friday. More than business though, Weller Book Works is really celebrating a history that could fill a book of its own.

According to the store, in 1929, the Weller Book Works’ founder, Gus Weller, intended to sell second-hand furniture and other goods he purchased, including books. He decided selling just books would be better than selling furniture or radios, and the bookstore began, known then as Zions Bookstore.

After years of running the business and starting a family of 13 in the process, Weller purchased land and gave the bookstore’s duties to his two oldest sons, John and Sam Weller.

Sam Weller was drafted into military service in 1943 in WWII when he was 21. He served as a private and military police, tending to prisoners, the store said. When he returned in 1946, he aimed to study musical theater through the GI Bill. Instead, his father pleaded for him to run the bookstore. It was an ask Sam Weller was not exactly happy with at the time, the store said.

However, he ultimately became convinced. The store describes him as a “charismatic and hardworking” man, and he was able to pull the store out of debt within a few years under his leadership.

He met his future wife, Lila Nelson, in 1949, who worked at the Deseret News. She worked at the store starting in 1950 and later she took over the bookkeeping and finance. They were married in 1953.

The two of them worked with a staff of employees and built the establishment up together in the post-war economy.

In 1969, the store’s name changed to Sam Wellers Zion Bookstore.

Read the full story from KSL TV here.