Tattered Reasoning, Indeed!

I wrote the following letter to the editor of the Rocky Mountain News today. We'll see if they publish it

Link to original RMN letter to which I responded: http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/letters/article/0,2777,DRMN_23966_4437182,00.html

Cynthia Mahon-Southern's reasoning (Letters, Feb. 3) as to why she does not shop at the Tattered Cover deserves a response, because it's the oldest, most persistent myth out there: that bookselling is inherently profitable. The Tattered Cover is a for-profit business with the soul of a non-profit institution. Joyce Meskis has spent 31 years running a bookstore, not making herself wealthy. Her employees (I was one, for more than five years in the 1990s) also sacrifice a great deal financially to work there--they and Joyce do it for the love of books, and the love of putting books together with people.

The economics of running a bookstore, of stocking hundreds of thousands of volumes that may or may not sell (and paying the freight to return them when they don't, and carrying them on their books for the period of time they sit there unsold), and of paying people to do all the work mean that the store can't offer deep discounts the way Amazon, Wal-Mart and Costco do. Also, it's expensive to stock travel guides to Togo, field guides to South American birds, and every last Charles Dickens novel--the profit margin on these tends to be lower than the profit on New York Times bestsellers because they don't tend to get bought every day. Unfortunately, the discounters have taken much of the more profitable business, and left independent bookstores like the Tattered Cover with the less profitable parts. Sure, you can buy anything you want on Amazon, but you can't hold it in your hands first.

To at least offer Denverites a taste of a "better deal," the store has implemented the "TC 25" program, where 25 titles per month are offered at 25% off of the cover price. Some of these are national bestsellers, and others are quirkier titles that you won't find on the front tables at Barnes & Noble or the front webpage at Amazon.

I choose to buy 98% of my books at the Tattered Cover (the other 2% from other indy bookstores when I travel) because I support it as an institution. Ms. Mahon-Southern can make the choice to do the same, or not, just as she is either a member of the Denver Art Museum or not, or gives to Colorado Public Radio, or not. Sure, the Tattered Cover is a business--but it's a lot more than just that, and if Denverites want to keep it as a part of what makes Denver a great place to live, then they should shop their more often.

As for the move: hooray! Joyce is taking a big risk by moving her business, but, civic-minded person that she is, she knows that revitalizing Colfax Avenue requires business owners like herself to make the commitment. Denverites should honor that commitment by buying their books at the Tattered Cover.