Kwame Spearman has opened a second bookstore — and a supersized can of bookworms seething about his legacy.
Nearly three years after his failed run as an owner of Denver’s beloved Tattered Cover, Spearman’s new venture has Denverites debating whether they should be excited about a rare new independent bookstore.
On social media, critics are slamming Spearman for a reputation they say is irredeemable, chapter closed, the end. Some pledged not to shop at Spearman’s cozy new West City Park store, the 3,500-square-foot Denver Book Society at 1700 Humboldt St., while others are giving it a try.
Kwame Spearman knows his reputation. Perched on a tiny chair at the new shop on a late February afternoon, he tried to explain what went wrong in his past ventures.
“When you come in and you're a Tasmanian devil, you stress the staff, you stress your finances, and you stress the business,” Spearman told Denverite. “And I think that happened with Tattered Cover.”
Spearman and his co-owner, Rich Garvin, bill their new shop as a place for people to gather, in person, and have tough, spirited conversations with respect.
“We need more spaces where we are coming together as a community,” Spearman said. “Where we are talking and socializing, and if we're disagreeing, we're doing it in a functional way.”
But critics say Spearman failed to show that kind of respect to longtime workers at Tattered Cover, which is a half-century institution in Denver.
“Kwame badly mistreated the extremely dedicated and loyal Tattered Cover staff,” David Beck, Spearman’s former friend and Tattered Cover co-owner, told Denverite in an interview. “He's a bully who makes himself feel big by making others feel small. Kwame thought he was the captain of the Titanic, but actually, he was the iceberg.”
Spearman is hoping to reverse his reputation.
Spearman, the son of Denver educators and an East High School grad, left his hometown for an Ivy League education and a stint in the corporate world.
His return to Denver to save Tattered Cover from bankruptcy and boycotts was messianic. He promised all the answers to the woes independent bookstores suffered during the rise of Amazon and then the pandemic. The Harvard Business Review even penned a glowing case study about his efforts.
But a year into his time at the helm, staff began to complain about mismanagement and poor treatment, as Denverite reported at the time. The future of the legacy indie store was in peril.
Meanwhile, Spearman ran for mayor. His platform mirrored tough-on-crime Republican talking points in a largely progressive city. He suggested to conservative talk show host George Brauchler that ICE could detain immigrant residents of the metro as they traveled from Denver jobs to homes in neighboring suburbs, 9News reported at the time.
“Around the metro area, there are opportunities for that cooperation between the suburban cities and the counties with the federal government,” he reportedly said, adding that local police should communicate with immigration agents in some cases.
As a result, 9News reported at the time that Spearman wanted the city to “resume work with immigration agents,” which he later denied, saying that he fully supported Denver’s role as a “sanctuary city.” A full recording of the original interview wasn’t immediately available.
Realizing he was careening toward defeat in the mayoral race, Spearman pulled out of the election and endorsed business leader Kelly Brough — but only after he had made the ballot.
“This was a decision made by Kwame alone — not the campaign,” his irked campaign treasurer, Jamie Giellis, posted on Facebook at the time. “I was not aware until the last moment it was happening, and I do not support how he handled this or who he endorsed … To say I’m disappointed is an understatement.”
The failed candidate returned to his CEO gig at the teetering Tattered Cover. Shortly after, amid ongoing staff grumbling, he stepped back from the role to run another unsuccessful campaign, this time for the school board.
After his departure, the independent Tattered Cover declared bankruptcy, and the corporate giant Barnes & Noble bailed out the surviving staff, torpedoing the shop’s independence but ensuring the shelves were stocked.
Spearman says his new bookstore came from a moment of clarity.
One day, he was bemoaning how bad life was to one of his best friends — who was apparently tired of Spearman’s grumbling.
“What was your role in everything that you’re complaining about,” the friend said.
“What do you mean?” Spearman replied.
“Well, did it just happen to you?” the friend asked.
Spearman realized his unhappiness was of his own making.
“That was really, really hard to hear and hard to go through that process, but you learn things,” he said recently. “You learn how people can perceive things that you do. It forces you to start saying, ‘Hey, I’m not going to just think about what’s in my head. I’m going to think about how things around me are being affected. In short, it creates massive empathy.’”
That empathy will make him a better manager, he said.
Spearman and Garvin quietly opened their new bookstore with a towering monument to the gay erotica hockey series “Heated Rivalry” and a string of community events.
The quaint store offers a wide selection in a small space. Customers can buy drinks and lounge in a backroom, putting together puzzles, playing board games and debating the issues of the day, in person, with respect.
Garvin says this model — a “third space” where community comes together to spend time and books are secondary to hanging out — is helping bookstores rebound. Brick-and-mortar book shops saw slight growth last year. Denver Book Society hopes to capitalize on that trend and build something Denver has lost in droves.
Garvin has provided enough money for the Denver Book Society to launch slowly and intentionally. While the co-owners are optimistic the model may break even, they also know there are no guarantees.
Having a space people want to gather in is enough for Garvin. His wealth, amassed as a San Francisco event organizer, could allow the Denver Book Society to weather economic storms that would batter other small businesses.
But can the shop weather Spearman’s critics?
On Reddit, a user posted: “Denver Book Society: What’s the tea?” The post triggered dozens of comments from ex-Tattered Cover workers and shoppers who made the case that the trouble with the new shop was simple: Kwame Spearman.
The former mayoral candidate’s ICE comments during the 2023 election were resurrected and took on a new life in the wake of Trump’s Minneapolis surge.
Meanwhile, Spearman tried to run defense.
“I don’t support ICE,” he wrote via the Denver Book Society’s account. “Never have.”
He wrote that he has always believed every resident “deserves equal rights and protection, regardless of their immigration status.”
His comments to Brauchler had been misinterpreted, he continued: “I said that I was running for mayor of Denver, and that other cities would ultimately make decisions based on what their governments and citizens chose.”
But his approach did not resonate with all, and some users accused him of lying.
“I feel like they’re just digging a bigger hole for themselves at this point,” wrote one Redditor.
Garvin worries the drama could tarnish business, that fighting back online might alienate people who would actually enjoy the space.
After all, the store has been full on the weekends. Garvin said a Centennial family even made the trip to the city to check it out.
Spearman is optimistic that whatever baggage he brings is a footnote to the Denver Book Society’s future. The enthusiasm of the staff, and the shop’s ability to contribute to the community, will determine its success.
“None of that has to do, quite frankly,” he said, “with me.”
