Christian Book Distributors
Encyclopedia
Christian Book Distributors (CBD) is the world's largest Christian catalog and internet retailer (christianbook.com), sending out over 65 mailings of unique catalogs to millions of customers each year while providing online access to their premier selection of Christian products—over 300,000 books, Bibles, DVDs, CDs, gifts, toys, games, and more.
The company was started in 1978 by two brothers who were 19 and 14 years old at the time, out of their parents’ home in Lynn, Massachusetts
. Three years later, as one brother graduated college and the other graduated high school, the business moved into its first commercial facility in Peabody, Massachusetts
. In 1984 the company built a 24000 square feet (2,229.7 m²) facility in the Centennial Industrial Park in Peabody. By 1996 CBD had completely outgrown the site and built a new facility across the street, where it remains today. The facility is now 300000 square feet (27,870.9 m²). CBD employs a staff of just over 500 while continuing to be a family affair — the younger of the two brothers, Ray Hendrickson is the President and CEO, in addition to his 81-year-old mom and 24-year-old son.
Christianbook.com is an eight-time recipient of the BizRate Circle of Excellence Platinum Award. This award is presented to top performing online retailers who have met the strict criteria set by BizRate Research to recognize outstanding customer service.
CBD was selected by The Boston Globe
as one of 2009’s Top 100 Places to Work in Massachusetts, ranking #22 overall and #8 in the mid-sized company category.
1980 - CBD hosted their first showroom sale at the Holiday Inn in Peabody, MA. These sales regularly draw thousands of customers to their warehouse several times a year.
1981 - The two brothers graduated — one from Central Bible College
, the other from Lynn English High School — and within a month, CBD moved out of the Hendrickson family home into their first “real” business space in the neighboring city of Peabody, MA. Although the company has moved several times, they have always stayed in Peabody.
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 24000 square feet (2,229.7 m²) facility that put all areas of the company under one roof. The company remained at that site until it relocated across the street to its current location in August 1996.
1985 - CBD expanded the product line to include Christian music. This was the first of many product line expansions over the years.
1989 - The number of employees grew to 90 while their building was expanded from 24000 square feet (2,229.7 m²) to 52000 square feet (4,831 m²).
1996 - In the summer, CBD moved into its newly constructed 240000 square feet (22,296.7 m²) facility — its current location today. 1996 was also the year CBD introduced their Internet site, Christianbook.com. With the development of Christianbook.com, CBD was able to offer customers far more products than ever before. The company grew to a staff of 320.
2003 - CBD sent out more than 50 catalogs and towards the end of 2003 expanded their music offering to include digital downloads from the major Christian music companies.
2004 - In August CBD moved into a new phase of ownership as the younger brother, Ray Hendrickson stepped into the role of President/CEO.
2008 - As CBD celebrated its 30th anniversary in October, they announced it had entered into a partnership agreement with Focus on the Family
to take over the ministry’s e-commerce site and product distribution. The partnership took effect early 2009.
2009 - Christianbook.com re-launched their MP3 store featuring an expanded selection of 100% DRM
-free MP3
music titles for download to computers, iPods, and many other devices. CBD was selected by The Boston Globe
as one of 2009’s Top 100 Places to Work in Massachusetts, ranking #22 overall and #8 in the mid-sized company category.
The company was started in 1978 by two brothers who were 19 and 14 years old at the time, out of their parents’ home in Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn, Massachusetts
Lynn is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 89,050 at the 2000 census. An old industrial center, Lynn is home to Lynn Beach and Lynn Heritage State Park and is about north of downtown Boston.-17th century:...
. Three years later, as one brother graduated college and the other graduated high school, the business moved into its first commercial facility in Peabody, Massachusetts
Peabody, Massachusetts
Peabody is a city in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population is about 53,000. Peabody is located in Boston's North Shore suburban area.- History :...
. In 1984 the company built a 24000 square feet (2,229.7 m²) facility in the Centennial Industrial Park in Peabody. By 1996 CBD had completely outgrown the site and built a new facility across the street, where it remains today. The facility is now 300000 square feet (27,870.9 m²). CBD employs a staff of just over 500 while continuing to be a family affair — the younger of the two brothers, Ray Hendrickson is the President and CEO, in addition to his 81-year-old mom and 24-year-old son.
Christianbook.com is an eight-time recipient of the BizRate Circle of Excellence Platinum Award. This award is presented to top performing online retailers who have met the strict criteria set by BizRate Research to recognize outstanding customer service.
CBD was selected by The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
as one of 2009’s Top 100 Places to Work in Massachusetts, ranking #22 overall and #8 in the mid-sized company category.
History
1978 - CBD was started by two brothers who were 19 and 14 years old, out of their parents’ home in Lynn, Massachusetts. 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 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 - CBD hosted their first showroom sale at the Holiday Inn in Peabody, MA. These sales regularly draw thousands of customers to their warehouse several times a year.
1981 - The two brothers graduated — one from Central Bible College
Central Bible College
Central Bible College is a private coed Bible college for the Assemblies of God. It was founded in 1922 with the main campus being located in Springfield, Missouri. The college has a Bible-centered curriculum designed to educate and train ministers, missionaries, and Christian workers...
, the other from Lynn English High School — and within a month, CBD moved out of the Hendrickson family home into their first “real” business space in the neighboring city of Peabody, MA. Although the company has moved several times, they have always stayed in Peabody.
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 24000 square feet (2,229.7 m²) facility that put all areas of the company under one roof. The company remained at that site until it relocated across the street to its current location in August 1996.
1985 - CBD expanded the product line to include Christian music. This was the first of many product line expansions over the years.
1989 - The number of employees grew to 90 while their building was expanded from 24000 square feet (2,229.7 m²) to 52000 square feet (4,831 m²).
1996 - In the summer, CBD moved into its newly constructed 240000 square feet (22,296.7 m²) facility — its current location today. 1996 was also the year CBD introduced their Internet site, Christianbook.com. With the development of Christianbook.com, CBD was able to offer customers far more products than ever before. The company grew to a staff of 320.
2003 - CBD sent out more than 50 catalogs and towards the end of 2003 expanded their music offering to include digital downloads from the major Christian music companies.
2004 - In August CBD moved into a new phase of ownership as the younger brother, Ray Hendrickson stepped into the role of President/CEO.
2008 - As CBD celebrated its 30th anniversary in October, they announced it had entered into a partnership agreement with Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family is an American evangelical Christian tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 1977 by psychologist James Dobson, and is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Focus on the Family is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s...
to take over the ministry’s e-commerce site and product distribution. The partnership took effect early 2009.
2009 - Christianbook.com re-launched their MP3 store featuring an expanded selection of 100% DRM
Digital rights management
Digital rights management is a class of access control technologies that are used by hardware manufacturers, publishers, copyright holders and individuals with the intent to limit the use of digital content and devices after sale. DRM is any technology that inhibits uses of digital content that...
-free MP3
MP3
MPEG-1 or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III, more commonly referred to as MP3, is a patented digital audio encoding format using a form of lossy data compression...
music titles for download to computers, iPods, and many other devices. CBD was selected by The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
as one of 2009’s Top 100 Places to Work in Massachusetts, ranking #22 overall and #8 in the mid-sized company category.