The Life and Times of Independent Bookstores

Despite the exponential growth of online retailers and a public ever more entranced by digital media, indie booksellers continue to seduce literature lovers.

The sun has barely begun to color the snow-blanketed Rocky Mountains and counteract the bracing wind that tunnels through Denver’s downtown streets, yet inside Tattered Cover Book Store at 16th and Wynkoop hums a warm refuge for book lovers.

Gary Taylor is one of several silver-haired gentlemen reading the newspaper in the first floor’s yellow lamp-lit glow. He pages methodically through The Denver Post with a cup of coffee and an oatmeal-raisin cookie from the store’s coffee shop, a ritual he repeats here three to four mornings per week.

“At corporate booksellers it’s just a whole different feeling,” says Taylor, a commercial real-estate broker. “I mean look at the place.”

Dark wood shelves divide both of the store’s two floors into a series of nooks, each one accented with a reading lamp and a weathered-looking chair or two. Massive timber beams crisscross the 19th-century warehouse ceiling, intersected by wooden pillars more than a foot in width. Soaring windowpanes of aged, dimpled glass distort the view beyond, and the floor creaks in protest as browsers wander across it.

There is nothing corporate about Tattered Cover, named among the best indie bookstores in the country by industry peers: It is not sleek, fast-paced or predictable. And this independent spirit has made it a notable character in a narrative shared by indie bookshops across the country.

From City Lights Booksellers in San Francisco to Kramerbooks & Afterwords in Washington, DC, the more than 1,200 independent bookstores across the nation fill a distinct niche in the cities they serve, acting as gateways to their communities and encouraging the exchange of ideas and lesser-known books. Yet in an era of deeply discounted books from online and big-box retailers, when e-books threaten to change the face of publishing entirely, it’s tough to feel anything but gloomy about their future.

Still, in each new city my travels take me to, I find myself drawn to the local bookstore, and not merely because I love being surrounded by thousands of books. An independent shop is the ideal place to discover new surroundings—its funky décor, friendly chatter and colorful rows of staff-recommended titles all craft a distinct picture that lingers in my memory long after I’ve forgotten the physical landmarks of a town.

To find out what makes Tattered Cover special—and by extension, how similar places may be able to compete in the face of growing challenges—I am spending from dawn till dark inside its walls.

TATTERED COVER’S STORY BEGAN in 1971 at a 950-square-foot book shop in Denver’s Cherry Creek North district. Joyce Meskis, who planned to become a math professor until she began working at a bookstore to help pay her way through college, bought it in 1974. Meskis has since expanded Tattered Cover to 100 employees at three locations, including the 16-year-old Lower Downtown outpost where I’ve set up camp.

Meskis believes each independent bookstore creates its own distinctive flavor by incorporating the personalities of its owners, customers and surroundings in a way chain stores and online booksellers don’t. A neighborhood store may feature a sprawling selection of local history books, a children’s section that begs kids to plop down and lose themselves in a novel or, in the case of the Tattered Cover, a collection of antique “Grandma’s attic” furniture that Meskis herself selects.

“A chain of any sort really only reproduces itself wherever it goes,” says Neil Strandberg, Tattered Cover operations manager. But among independents, “no two are the same. There’s a vibrancy there.”

That individuality also makes a non-corporate shop a window to its city. “It is one of the bedrocks of that neighborhood feeling,” says Paul Yamazaki, the main buyer for City Lights, a San Francisco staple since 1953. “Such stores reflect and help create a sense of community.”

JUST AFTER NOON, I settle in at the last empty table in Tattered Cover’s periodical section with a steaming bowl of clam chowder from the coffee shop. “Do you mind if I sit at the end of this table?” asks a middle-aged woman clutching her lunch and two new books.

The woman, Janet Dickson, sits down and begins paging through her Arizona travel guide, just purchased for a spring vacation. She visits Tattered Cover at least once a month—and not just because she enjoys the atmosphere. She respects Meskis’ dedication to creating a space where people can come together to share ideas, a philosophy that in 1996 helped Meskis earn an award from The Thomas Jefferson Center for the Protection of Free Expression. “It’s committed to opening the world to people through books,” Dickson says. “You don’t feel like it’s just a business. You feel like it’s a vision, a mission.”

After Dickson leaves, the stark black-and-silver cover of a paperback on display nearby catches my eye. I move closer and realize what’s familiar about this book, Outlaw Journalist: The Life and Times of Hunter S. Thompson; the author is William McKeen, one of my college journalism professors.

As I read the introduction and acknowledgments, the mention of familiar names and places transports me from Denver to my college town (Gainesville, FL) thousands of miles away. I can’t help but feel that with this book, like Dickson said, Tattered Cover has opened my world a bit, providing me with an unexpected—if fleeting—memory.

ACCORDING TO JIM MILLIOT, business and news director of Publishers Weekly, independent bookstores comprise just 8% of all publishing sales. Their influence is relatively small compared to market behemoths Barnes & Noble and Borders, but they play an important role in supporting more obscure authors and publishers. “They provide alternative outlets for titles that other stores and even online retailers may not carry,” Milliot says.

At corporate bookstores, a comparatively smaller number of buyers determines what books will be on shelves at branches throughout the country. But the more diverse network of buyers for independent retailers often gives regional titles, emerging authors and new literature shelf space that they otherwise might not receive.

Yamazaki pools the knowledge of all 14 City Lights employees to make his buying decisions. As a result, the store boasts one of the largest poetry selections in the nation and has a knack for featuring Nobel Prize-winning works of literature—before they win the award.

Independent booksellers don’t merely reflect their clients and surroundings; they sometimes challenge their customers’ thinking with provocative events that chain stores might shy away from. The Regulator Bookshop, a 33-year-old landmark in Durham, NC, offers a diverse slate of events, from public discussions, such as one between Duke University academics—one white, one black—about Kathryn Stockett’s racially charged novel, The Help, to Friday-night pajama parties, where kids and parents gather for sing-along story time.

“We’re not just selling books,” says Tom Campbell, co-owner of The Regulator. “We’re trying to be a resource for the community.”

Meskis sees the dissemination of lesser-known books and the ideas they contain as one of the most vital roles of independent booksellers. “I have no quarrel with chains as long as we maintain a balance culturally,” she says. “When you have too much control in the hands of too few folks, that doesn’t bode well for the cultural well-being of the reading society.”

THE CITY SKY HAS GROWN DARK, giving Tattered Cover the enchanting aura of a massive country cabin protecting its inhabitants from the nighttime chill.

In a worn leather wing chair tucked in the second-floor business section, local Don Leach looks the part of a book shop regular, wearing wide-framed glasses and a knitted argyle sweater vest. The former oil-company engineer peruses Crude World: The Violent Twilight of Oil, which he’s considering for his collection. At home, he has tons of books, and that’s not just a figure of speech—the volumes in his library weighed approximately 6 tons when he shipped them in a move from Texas more than a decade ago.

Around us, patrons of all ages are reading and browsing the shelves in the cozy store. Leach looks into the distance, pondering why he’s been a Tattered Cover customer for so many years and why he finds himself here three or more times per week instead of the chain bookstore a dozen blocks away.

He says the ambience and the selection of books are part of the attraction. But, in the end, it boils down to something deeper. “I trust Joyce [Meskis] and just feel good when I walk in the door,” he says.

BESTSELLER LIST

Check out some of the country’s most storied independent bookshops. 

TATTERED COVER BOOK STORE, DENVER
Spend an hour (or an entire day) exploring the shelves at the Tattered Cover’s Lower Downtown book shop, which is the oldest of its three locations. 1628 16th St; 303-436-1070; www.tatteredcover.com

CITY LIGHTS BOOKSELLERS, SAN FRANCISCO
With its broad poetry selection, this bookstore has remained true to its founder, award-winning San Francisco Poet Laureate Lawrence Ferlinghetti. 261 Columbus Ave; 415-362-8193; www.citylights.com

THE REGULATOR BOOKSHOP, DURHAM, NC
Since opening in 1976, this bookseller has survived the transformation of Durham from a tobacco and textile town to a hub for technology and health care. 720 Ninth St; 919-286-2700; www.regulatorbookshop.com

KRAMERBOOKS & AFTERWORDS, WASHINGTON, DC
Caution: The colorful array of books that line the entrance to this 34-year-old Dupont Circle landmark make it nearly impossible to leave without a purchase. 1517 Connecticut Ave NW; 202-387-1400; www.kramers.com

HASLAM’S BOOK STORE, ST. PETERSBURG, FL
Founded during the Great Depression, this family-run shop has since grown into Florida’s largest new and used bookstore. 19 miles from Tampa International Airport; 2025 Central Ave; 727-822-8616; www.haslams.com