Reading in Public No. 42: The slow steady loss of an indie bookstore giant

A jumble of thoughts and round up of links about a beloved institution

Last week it was announced and widely reported that Barnes & Noble bought the beloved Colorado independent bookstore chain Tattered Cover. I don’t think I’ve ever gotten as many messages sent to me about a bit of book news—so many of my fellow readers sweetly texted to check in and express their sympathy about this turn of events. But, to be quite honest, as a Denver reader I received this news with a neutral to positive feelings. So today I want to explore my observations of the slow decline of this once great indie and consider just what makes a an independent bookstore great. This is all my opinion as an outside observer. I won’t get too deep into the ins and outs of TC ownership and the decisions various owners have made, but I’ve included a link roundup at the bottom of this post if you want to dig deeper into what was happening as this store changed hands.

I am saddened by this end for such an iconic independent bookstore. I didn’t grow up in Denver but my grandmother lived here my entire life, and I vividly remember our trips to the big four story Tattered Cover location in Cherry Creek. She lived close by and every visit to her included a visit to that massive store. I definitely didn’t understand at that point the difference between a big indie store like Tattered Cover and the Barnes and Noble and Borders stores I was used to, but it definitely felt special: the green carpet, the multiple floors, the feeling of real love and care that permeated the building. That incredible store had already closed by the time I moved to Denver after college, but by then TC had taken up residence in another huge and stunning location—this time a gorgeous historic building downtown. This was a maze of a store—a place you could literally get lost in. But it was also so well curated and organized which meant I would stumble upon fantastic books at every turn in the shelves. This was my favorite place to browse and read and have coffee, but slowly it began to show signs of a changing book landscape. While the store itself always seemed pretty busy, there were fewer and fewer books on the shelves, then entire floors closed, and finally it shut its doors in 2021.

The TC location I currently frequent is located in another gorgeous historic building that was once a theater and while it’s stunning to behold and sports the same iconic green carpet, it’s also been in decline for years.

Gorgeous fully stocked shelves with oodles of shelf talkers at The Tattered Cover circa (I think?) 2017.

I inevitably feel like a grump when people—especially out of towners—bring up the current iteration of Tattered Cover. It’s huge and visually stunning, which do indeed make it an impressive independent bookstore. But, for me, it’s felt less and less like an indie interested in serving its community and more and more like a corporate giant in its own right (albeit a bankrupt one) for the last several years.

For the last few years, walking into Tattered Cover has not felt like being in an independent bookstore. What I want most from an indie bookstore is discoverability. I want to find books I never would have found otherwise or be encouraged to read books I would otherwise overlook. To be sure, this has been harder and harder for me as I’ve gotten deeper into the book world and more aware of the books being published. Great indies always stand out to me when they’re curated and arranged in a way that fosters discovery and leads to unique finds. I love it when bookstores have flat lay tables, recommended books at the register, themed book displays, and featured books placed in surprising places. While I make many trips to and purchases at TC, it’s been few and far between where I’ve stumbled upon an underrated gem to bring home.

Of course I also love staff recommendations sections and finding books by scouring the shelves for shelf talkers. I try to make it a mission to purchase a staff recommendation I have never heard of every time I visit an indie bookstore. TC’s shelf talkers have dwindled over the years and the staff recommendations section doesn’t see a lot of turnover—this isn’t at all the fault of the wonderful employees who work there! They’ve been short staffed, underpaid, and stretched thin as the current owners have focused on expansion and that shows. Talk to anyone on staff there and you’ll have a wonderful conversation about books and are sure to get a great recommendation. But the staff clearly aren’t given the time and encouragement to make that a primary part of their job, which is so unfortunate. Book lovers are the ones going into this line of work and the passion and knowledge they bring are what give an independent bookstore its heart.

I also think that one of the problems with being a BIG indie bookstore like Tattered Cover (but yes I have been to Powell’s and it excels in all the things I love!) with multiple large stores is that there is perhaps an impulse to be everything to everyone. But indies excel because of their uniqueness and their deep understanding of their community. I love it when I walk into a bookstore and it feels well-curated for its patrons. Maybe the classics selection is separated out because readers are always looking for those. Maybe there’s a local authors section. Maybe the store is organized by location because that’s of interest to their customers. Sometimes the smallest bookstores have the best selections and the highest degree of discoverability because they know their customer base so well. Small stores where every single book feels like it was hand chosen for the unique community that frequents that store are my favorites.

It’s been a while since Tattered Cover felt like the indie bookstores I love, and that is sad! I have gone into the store to find Aspen Words shortlisted books—books on a prize list from another Colorado institution!—and found exactly zero of those books stocked. I’ve been to author events with big names—Oprah picks!—with fewer than fifteen people in attendance.

I don’t entirely blame TC ownership of course. Between Amazon undercutting indies with their pricing and Covid completely changing the landscape of in-person bookselling, the TC owners have had many challenges to contend with. Everything is clearer in hindsight, but the new owners may have made more strides by cultivating a unique experience for each store’s distinct communities. There is a lot of discourse urging consumers to choose indies over Amazon and B&N and I fully engage with and support this! But one of the things that’s bothered me in the coverage of this story is the insinuation that it’s up to consumers to save indies by making more ethical purchases. I think that is unfair and a major oversimplification. Yes, of course, let’s all shop at our favorite independent bookstores near and far whenever we can (this seems like a good opportunity to remind you to make the switch to Libro.fm and support indies with your audiobook listening)!! But buying a book at Barnes & Noble is not indicative of a moral deficit and our indies also need to serve their communities. It’s a two-way street—and making sure the element of readerly discovery is prominent in a store is a big part of how indies can fight against corporate giants.

Browsing TC with Lou in 2023—note the empty shelves and face-out books to take up more space.

So the heartbreak of this loss hit me years ago—not with the B&N acquisition—and I’ve already processed it. When I heard about the acquisition then, my initial reaction was “ick,” but my second thought was that it might not be so bad. As a friend of mine said, “at least they might actually stock books now”…yikes, but true. I’m interested to see how this all happens and admit that it could be bad and icky to watch the takeover of this once great independent institution. But it could be okay! First, I’m thrilled that nearly all of the TC employees at all locations will get to keep their jobs and that the name is staying the same (reportedly, B&N was the only offer that promised these things). This is excellent news and is certainly cause for celebration!

I also think the concern over what this will do to other local indies seems potentially misguided, though I’m willing to walk this back based on what actual booksellers tell me. We do already have B&Ns all over Denver so it’s not like this is the first big book retail store in the area. I can see this becoming an issue for our indies if there is no B&N branding at TC locations. In this case, I would worry that people would think they were shopping at an indie while actually be supporting B&N. This already happens at our airport bookstores which are Hudson outposts licensing the name “Tattered Cover” but operating independently (I only learned this when I tried to use a gift card at an airport location.) But I think that’s relatively unlikely, in which case this could potentially be good for other indies. TC kind of dominated the market because of its size and name recognition, and I think now people who care about indie bookstores will seek out other local shops to patronize. I know I’ll be doing a lot more of that.

So while I love the fervor of the bookish internet to support local bookstores, there’s nuance here and I’m not buying into any slippery slope arguments just yet. I think the click bait articles that play into fear mongering and ignore what has actually been reported are misguided and dangerous. As a believer in indie bookstores, I’m going to be spending more time at the small, well-curated, community-focused indies around town. But I also think having bookstores that focus more on the reading habits of their patrons, as the new B&N model does, could be genuinely good for Denver readers and I think that’s missing from the conversation that’s happening.

I will miss Tattered Cover, but truthfully I have been missing Tattered Cover for almost a decade. I’m hopeful that the smaller independent bookstores in Denver will now get a chance to shine, and I’m curious about what this change will mean for the book community of Denver.

Read more about the saga of The Tattered Cover

• The history of The Tattered Cover (TC website)

• Fifty years in, Tattered Cover is still having growing pains. (Denverite)

• Tattered Cover bookstore files for bankruptcy (PW)

• New TC bankruptcy filings detail plans to pay back more than $3 million unsecured claims (Denverite)

• In new bankruptcy plan, Tattered Cover bookstore considers whether to keep its four locations (Denverite)

• Tattered Cover Bankruptcy puts bookstore chain up for sale (Denver Post)

• Tattered Cover accepts $1.83 million sales bid from Barnes & Noble (Denver Post)

• What does it mean that Barnes & Noble is buying Denver indie Tattered Cover? (Lit Hub)

• How Barnes & Noble went from villain to hero (NYT)

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Happy reading!

Sara