Denver’s woman-and queer-owned bookstore Petals & Pages will close its doors next month, citing high rent and low revenue.
The popular shop will close April 12, though previously scheduled events will still be held.
Petals & Pages opened its brick-and-mortar store in the Santa Fe Art District in 2023. It has sold comics and graphic novels, hosted poets’ first public readings and celebrated authors’ debuts. It also raised thousands of dollars for various causes.
By cultural standards, Petal & Pages was a success. Over the past few years, it has been recognized as one of the city’s best indie bookstores by 5280 and the Best Small Business in Denver by City Cast.
LGBTQ book lovers found a much-needed place to congregate — a refuge as Denver’s queer community faced vandalism, Colorado weighed proposed ballot measures that would take rights from transgender youth, and the nation saw widespread book-ban campaigns.
But economically, it was a different story.
City leaders say third spaces like Petals & Pages — where people can hang out at no or low cost — are critical. But without investor backing, they are tough to keep open.
“In terms of the business, the nuts and bolts of the bookstore, the business is just financially not viable,” said owner Dylah Ray in an interview. “It's such a hard time to be a small business.”
On Instagram, one supporter described Petals & Pages as “the perfect home away from home for us” that “cradled our love through some of our favorite memories.” Authors celebrated the impact the shop has had on the literary community and writers’ careers. And a Santa Fe Art District resident described the closure as “a huge loss for the neighborhood.” Others asked whether there was anything they could do to help.
“Because the rent and the cost of this is just so much greater than what we're bringing in, to be profitable, it could (only) work with an angel investor,” Ray said.
Petals & Pages will continue selling books at bookshop.org, an online site that supports local bookstores, and also at libro.fm, an independent seller of audiobooks.
The closure comes after a turbulent few years for independent booksellers.
Tattered Cover, perhaps the city’s best-known bookseller, went into bankruptcy and was purchased by the national chain Barnes & Noble.
BookBar shut down in 2022. Westside Books quit selling used books. And one of Denver’s latest independent bookstores, Denver Book Society, faced calls for boycotts and had a leadership shakeup earlier this month, just weeks after opening.
Queer bookstores have struggled in Denver. Category Six Books, the city’s first gay bookstore, founded in 1982, closed its brick-and-mortar shop in 2000 and lasted online until 2011.
Ray appreciated collaborating with other indie booksellers.
Just last year, another women-owned bookstore, Spicy Librarian, opened in Denver. It’s a hub for romance books that also sells luxury sex toys. Another romance and erotica bookshop, Tongue in Cheek, offers a feminist and LGBTQ+ safe space at pop-ups around town.
“I would encourage all indie bookstores to keep going,” Ray said.
But if Denverites want bookstores to thrive, they need to spend money at them, she said.
“I think we kind of sometimes forget that these spaces that we love have financial needs too,” Ray said. “You have to show up. You have to dedicate your dollars locally and show up to these places before it's too late for them.”
Around the country, booksellers will celebrate Independent Bookstore Day on April 26. Across Colorado, indie shops will be handing out passports through the month, and participants who visit 10 participating bookstores (including Petals & Pages) will be eligible to win a prize.
