History of Christianbook.com

1978
Christianbook.com is the online home of Christian Book Distributors, a company that started long before the World Wide Web had even begun to take its shape. The company began as a small family affair when, in 1978, the elder of two brothers decided to start a mail-order business to earn a little extra money while attending Bible college. At first, CBD carried only a few academic titles and offered them at discounted prices to Pastors and Bible school students. However, with the help of their father (an Assemblies of God Pastor) and mother, the two brothers (Steve and Ray) soon watched their business take off. Orders poured in and the driveway, bedrooms, and garage of their small house on a dead-end street in Lynn, Massachusetts overflowed with boxes and boxes of books.

1980
As can be imagined, during the early years, a number of challenges faced the young company that was being run by two students out of Mom and Dad’s house.  1980 witnessed the first CBD showroom sale at the Holiday Inn in Peabody, MA.  Showroom sales are still popular with CBD customers, and regularly draw huge crowds to our facility several times a year.
1981
Steve and Ray graduate – Steve from Central Bible College; Ray from Lynn English High School, and within a month of graduation, CBD moved out of the Hendrickson family home into their first “real” business space in the neighboring city of Peabody, Massachusetts.  Although the company moved several times through the early years, each new facility was within the city, and still today CBD’s “home” is in Peabody, MA.
1984
CBD became the largest company in the direct to consumer Christian catalog business.  With a staff of 30, CBD moved into a newly built 24,000 square foot facility that put all areas of our company under one roof. The Company remained in that location until it relocated across the street to its current location in August of 1996.
1985
CBD expands the product line from “just books” to include Christian Music.  This would be the first of many product line expansions over the years. 1988
As we reached our 10th Anniversary, CBD introduced the premier edition of its Preferred Catalog.  This has become one of our customer’s favorite catalogs with more “great deals” on a wide range of products.
1989
We’re still growing, and it’s time to expand our facility from 24,000 sq ft to 52,000 sq ft. We now employ a staff of 90.
1994
CBD introduced our first 4-color catalog which is quite a big change and also the first edition of our Video Catalog (DVD’s not yet available).

1995
CBD introduced the premier editions of our Bible Catalog and our Kids Catalog.  Starting with an insert in the 1995 Holiday Catalog we introduced our new line of gift products to our customers.  Based on positive responses, we mailed our first complete Gift Catalog in 1996.  The Gift Catalog continues to be one of our popular mailings today.

1996

It’s the summer of 1996, and CBD moved into its newly constructed 240,000 sq ft facility, its current location today. 1996 was also the year we introduced our new Internet site--Christianbook.com.  With the development of Christianbook.com, CBD was able to offer customers far more products than ever before.  The company has grown tremendously with a staff of 320.  As the company has grown, one challenge has always been in deciding how the company should choose its ever-expanding product line. Our overall position…is to make available a wide assortment of products to a wide variety of customers---to let you choose what is important and useful to you, rather than to make that decision for you. We desire to serve our customers in the best way possible, by making available the resources and products that serve your needs.
Click here to read more on why we carry what we carry.
1997
CBD introduced our first ever Homeschool catalog in early 1997 to meet the requests of many of our customers that were looking for a wide, in-stock selection of homeschool curriculum at great prices.
1999
During the summer of 1999 we added an entire floor to our already enormous warehouse, increasing the size of the facility to 300,000 sq ft.  The warehouse has swelled to hold over 100,000 different Christian books, videos, CDs, cassettes, gifts, toys, and games---and all of them are available at the click of a mouse!  At this time, CBD increased its workforce to a staff of 400.
2003
Twenty-five years after the company began, Christian Book Distributors is a lot bigger, but its basic goals and principles are the same---to offer customers the very best in Christian products at the best prices and with the best service around. CBD sends out more than fifty catalogs every year.  At CBD, we are excited about how far we've come and where we are headed.
2004
Christian Book Distributors moved into another phase of its development in August of 2004 when Steve, the elder of the two brothers, sold the company to his younger brother Ray. In a press release Steve commented, “The past twenty-five years founding and growing CBD have been extraordinarily rewarding, but I’m looking forward to a change of pace and the time to pursue other interests, including some volunteer and philanthropic opportunities. There is no one else that I would have preferred to succeed me than Ray, and I look forward to seeing the company continue to thrive under his leadership. Ray has been an important part of the company’s success to date, and I have great confidence that his leadership and vision will take the company to continued success in the future.” After Steve, Ray had been the most senior person at the company since 1978, overseeing Information Technology, Human Resources, the Distribution Center, the Call Center, and Facilities. Ray was a minority owner of the company until 1998, when he embarked on a three-year sabbatical to explore other areas of interest and spend time with his young family. In January 2001, Ray returned to CBD, resuming his role as Senior Vice President. On the purchase of the company Ray commented, “I look forward to continuing the legacy of the true family business led by Steve for the past twenty-five years, and to creating my own imprint on the company for the next twenty-five years. It is an exciting and challenging opportunity, and I look forward to working with our staff, management, and vendors to serve our customers with continued and even greater excellence.”
2006
Today, CBD continues to grow and offer our customers many more products than ever before.  This year we will mail over 60 different catalogs to millions of customers, and with the continued development of our website shoppers are able to choose from over 200,000 different Christian books, videos, CDs, cassettes, gifts, toys, games, and more. Christianbook.com has also made it possible to provide customers with more of something else---information. Without the space constraints of catalogs, Christianbook.com features author profiles, book excerpts, author interviews, more general information, and wider selections to customers.  You can also browse and shop CBD's catalogs online at Christianbook.com, where we’ve also developed our newly introduced product categorization tool, making it easier for our customers to find exactly what they are looking for faster, and at the best prices around.  You can finalize your purchases in just two quick steps with our new and improved checkout process.  We are constantly looking for ways to improve our technology to provide the best and fastest website experience for our customers.  We are the largest Internet site in the Christian marketplace, frequently cited as “the source” for Christian products. Our management team and staff of 500+ employees have played a major role in the growth and success of our company, and we take great pride in our excellent staff and the superior customer service we strive to provide.

Six years in a row, Christianbook.com has been honored by Bizrate.com for our outstanding performance with the following awards recognizing the “Best of the Best” e-tailers.

2001 – Bizrate.com Circle of Excellence Platinum Award for Outstanding Customer Service
2002 – Bizrate.com Gold Honoree
2003 – Bizrate.com Circle of Excellence Platinum Award for Outstanding Customer Service
2004 – Bizrate.com Circle of Excellence Platinum Award for Outstanding Customer Service
2005 - Bizrate.com Circle of Excellence Platinum Award for Outstanding Customer Service
2006 - Bizrate.com Circle of Excellence Platinum Award for Outstanding Customer Service

CBD is the largest religious catalog company in the world, sending out over 60 mailings of unique catalogs to millions of customers each year. Christianbook.com customers have access to the premier selection of Christian products available---over 200,000 books, Bibles, videos, CDs, cassettes, gifts, toys, games, and more.

CBD has a long-standing relationship with several missionaries and organizations that work to spread the gospel of Christ around the world.  CBD continues to be a vital part of the Peabody business community, supporting and strengthening many local community organizations.