Former lawyer buys The Bookies, half-century-old Denver bookstore

Kirstin Gulling is making good on a dream she had as a regulation pupil within the early Nineteen Nineties: proudly owning a bookstore.

The previous lawyer will write the subsequent chapter of The Bookies, the Denver bookstore staple that Sue Lubeck opened in 1972.

“It’s thrilling in all of the methods, particularly as a result of I’ve one thing to construct on,” the first-time bookstore operator stated. “There’s a gifted group of people that already work and go to right here.”

Gulling purchased the retail store from Nicole Sullivan, who took over possession in 2021 after Lubeck died. Sullivan moved the shop from Glendale to its present 7,000-square-foot location at 2085 S. Holly St. within the Virginia Village neighborhood final 12 months and had been seeking to promote the shop since March.

Neither occasion disclosed the value of the deal.

“The arduous work of turning the enterprise round is generally behind us,” stated Sullivan, who additionally owned BookBar within the Berkeley neighborhood earlier than closing it in 2023. “The following step is to develop gross sales and get prospects within the door and again within the door. I feel Kirstin’s going to be actually good at that. New power, contemporary pair of eyes, and likewise hands-on.”

Sullivan nonetheless owns the shop’s actual property, which information present she purchased for $2.2 million in 2023. She is going to lease the house to Gulling and The Bookies, which she stated does round $1.5 million in gross sales yearly.

Gulling stated she needs individuals to discover a “third place” locally, one thing bookstores have been all through her life. When she was attending regulation faculty on the College of Michigan, the unique location of the now-shuttered Borders was a refuge when she was popping out as lesbian, she stated.

Amazon Bookstore Cooperative, the acclaimed Minneapolis feminist retailer, was additionally a pivotal spot for Gulling.

“It’s been vastly necessary to my identification, and this chance is the right marriage of that and what I did once I was elevating my 5 youngsters,” she stated, noting that she homeschooled two of them.

The Bookies mission suits proper into that as properly, she stated.

“You’ve got this lengthy legacy of the bookstore being for educators and younger youngsters, and, underneath Nicole’s management, into extra of a group house,” Gullling stated. “It’s my group. I dwell down the road, actually over a mile away, and I’d love to assist it broaden on what Nicole has already achieved right here.”

She stated not a lot will change within the quick time period for the house. She plans on retaining all 23 staffers and to proceed holding writer occasions, ebook golf equipment and an upcoming teen writing summer season camp.

The largest change up, she stated, can be on the cabinets, the place Gulling will add a used-book part. She additionally plans to rearrange them to make extra nooks for individuals to hang around.

“The main focus first goes to be to easily ask individuals what (prospects) need,” she stated, noting that she’s already surveyed staff. “My imaginative and prescient is to maintain The Bookies a heat, welcoming place.”

Since taking on Bookies in 2021, Sullivan stated she’s achieved numerous work on the shop’s again finish to carry it as much as the twenty first century. She shifted ordering, budgeting and different methods to digital platforms. She additionally stated she removed “stale” stock and expanded the grownup titles part.

The largest change, although, was shifting the shop from a nook of a strip mall to a stand-alone constructing. Although bills stayed kind of the identical, margins have improved from 39% to 44% throughout her 4 years, she stated, partially as a result of the transfer gave The Bookies extra visibility.