The business originally started when Bret Eborn began buying and selling used books. He was sufficiently successful at this endeavor that he and his wife Cindy opened their first bookstore in Layton in 1989, later moving it to a second location in Layton. Eborn says the business increased substantially once it began selling books on consignment. Eborn then spent ten years in Phoenix, Arizona, publishing books and selling used and rare books through mail-order catalogs. In 2000 they moved back to Utah and opened a location in Roy. By April 2002, Eborn Books opened a shop in Downtown Salt Lake City at 433 East 300 South, adding to its previous location in Roy. Within a several months, Bret Eborn indicated that he planned to close the Roy location and open another one in the Valley Fair Mall in West Valley City. In 2016 another franchised store opened in Layton, Utah at the Layton Hills Mall, and in 2017 a franchise opened in South Town Center in Sandy, Utah. Also in 2017 Eborn Books purchased the Latter-Day Harvest Bookstore, from Living Scriptures, in Nauvoo, Illinois. In April 2008, Bret Eborn purchased two old editions of the Book of Mormon for $11,000 at his store in the Valley Fair Mall in West Valley City. Later the same evening he discovered that the books had been stolen from the Daughters of Utah Pioneers Museum several days before, along with 11 other rare books. Upon verifying the proper ownership of the books much later that night, Eborn contacted the Salt Lake City Police Department and turned over the artifacts. Eborn believed the estimated value of the two books to be $22,000, so he paid $11,000 for them. Regarding the estimated value of the entire lot that was stolen, the police erroneously reported them to be worth "anywhere from $800,000 to a million dollars," but book dealers would argue it to be much less, as the books were of extremely poor quality. Fortunately for Eborn, the thieves were caught before his check was cashed. In March 2012 Eborn Books moved into its current main location on South Main Street in Downtown Salt Lake City. The locale had been previously occupied by Sam Weller's Bookstore, until that store moved out Trolley Square earlier in the same year. The inventory of books that Sam Weller's was unable to sell prior to moving were purchased by Eborn Books. Eborn Books also publishes Mormon-related books, under the names Eborn Books or Eborn Publishing. They also distribute books for Shady Hill Press and Rush Utah. Recently they have published books for The Interpreter Foundation. Bret Eborn, the owner, is the author of The Comprehensive Guide to Mormon Books and Bret Eborn's Guide to Mormon Books. More recently he authored the book Flaxen Cords: A Connection between Secret Combinations and Ancient Khipu Knotted Devices. In 2013, Eborn Books was named as "Best Reborn Book Nook" in Salt Lake City Weekly newspaper's "Best of Utah 2013: Main Street" nomination. In May 2019, Eborn Books announced that the owner of the building of the Salt Lake City store had ordered that they vacate the building by the end of 2019. Eborn Books planned on closing the store June 29th, to allow for the remaining inventory to moved to a warehouse during the presumably better summer weather, rather the late fall. While a store at another location in Salt Lake City remains an option, no specific plans have been given for a replacement store. Although on the last Saturday of June, the official closing day, over 500 boxes of books were removed from the store, so many books remained Eborn told the Salt Lake City Weekly that he would open the store on Saturdays until the rest of the inventory was moved to Toole.
