Christian Book Distributors was started in 1978 by Stephen Hendrickson, 19 years old and a sophomore at Central Bible College in Springfield, Missouri, out of his parents’ home in Lynn, Massachusetts.
In 2012, CBD was described as employing a staff of just over 500 while "[continuing] to be a family affair", with its younger co-founder, his 80-year-old mother and his 23-year-old son "still involved with the company".
[2] CBD was selected by The Boston Globe as one of the Top 100 Places to Work in Massachusetts five years running from 2009 to 2013.
[4] In 2008 CBD 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.
[5] In June 2019, Christian Book Distributors changed its name to Christianbook, Inc. due to confusion with CBD, a chemical from cannabis.