A Brief Dove History

In the early 1980's Jeffrey Ball was a student at St John's Seminary in Plymouth MI. In his search for books on the bible and ancient history he became a frequent customer at the Berkley Bookstore in Berkley MI, operated by Ed Jonas. The Berkley Bookstore usually had exceptional books in religion and history due to the owner's interests. The two became friends and decided to open a new book venture together. In January of 1985 Dove Booksellers officially opened in the back room of the Berkley Bookstore. Hebraists will see that the store name comes from Ed's surname.

The main means of doing business at that time was by printed catalog, and the development of a mailing list through small ads in Biblical Archaeology Review. The primary asset at that time was a Kaypro PC upon which all business would come to be done. There are still a few Dove customers who remember the first hand written invoices of this early period.

As business increased it became obvious that the work could not be handled by two people. Another of Jeffrey Ball's prior book contacts, John Marine, had worked for several years at Discount Bible in Warren, MI. John had just left Discount Bible when Jeffrey called to inquire, and John entered the partnership in 1987.

During this period Dove began to display at the AAR/SBL Annual Meetings and other conferences, with booths staffed by Marine and Ball. It was during this period that Dove formed many important relationships and friendships. Ed still endeavored to run a general used bookstore as well, so the three owners decided it would be best if Dove moved to a small retail space on McNichols Rd in Detroit.

In the Detroit Dove began to buy and sell used books, which has come to be one of the most important and enjoyable facets of the business. Continued growth and expansion had caused overcrowding again and as result, Dove moved again at the beginning of 1993, to a much large space in Livonia, on Schoolcraft Rd.

There were several developments during the 7 years in Livonia. The used book part of the business continued to expand, with Dove making many important buys from senior scholars and their estates. Also in partnership with Wm B Eerdmans in Grand Rapids, Dove began co-publishing a new series, "The Biblical Resource Series" which continues, and features reprints of important books in biblical studies.

During the 1990's Dove also began to handle the display booth for Sheffield Academic Press at the AAR/SBL Annual Meetings. Many Dove customers remember Jeffrey Ball and John Marine from this booth during a time of strong growth for Sheffield under the editors David Clines and Philip Davies. This arrangement went on until 1999 when Sheffield became a large enough press to bring its own staff. It was during this period too, that Dove developed a website and began to utilize the Internet.

At the end of 1999 Dove moved again, this time to Dearborn MI. The Dearborn location was an upstairs suite of rooms on Michigan Avenue, a mile from the world headquarters of the Ford Motor Company. This was another period of expansion for Dove. The Internet began to displace printed catalogs during this period. Information could be delivered much faster through email than via printed catalogs. In 2002 John Marine departed from the business, and long time employee George Wind entered as an owner. In 2003 George Kelly also entered the business at an ownership level. The Dearborn era was one of rapid expansion, so out of space again, Dove moved to a new larger space in Allen Park, MI.

Over the years Dove has moved from north of Detroit, then to northwest of Detroit, then to a west suburb, a south suburb, and finally further south. the current location in Allen Park offers easy freeway access from either I-75 or I-94. Its first floor location and large parking lot make it an ideal place to visit!