Popular independent bookstore Tattered Cover files for bankruptcy; Company closing three locations

DENVER, Colo. (KRDO)-- A popular independent bookstore home to Colorado, Tattered Cover, has announced it has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. 

The 52-year-old chain stated it’s working to recover and obtain financial support that was exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Once funding is approved, the bookstore chain stated it “will have access to up to $1 million in debtor-in-possession financing provided by a newly created entity comprised of current company board members and investors.”

That funding, officials stated, will be used to obtain needed inventory just in time for the 2023 holiday season. 

The Tattered Cover will continue its operations but will be closing three stores from its seven current locations. That includes Denver’s McGregor Square, Westminster, and Colorado Springs. 

Those closures are expected to begin Oct. 23, and should be completed by early November. 

Officials added the inventory and technology from those closing locations will be transferred to the store’s four other locations on Colfax Ave., Union Station in Denver, the Aspen Grove Shopping Center in Littleton, and the children’s store at Stanley Marketplace in Aurora. 

At least 27 staff positions out of Tattered Cover’s current 103 positions will be impacted by the closures. The company said they are working to develop a severance package for eligible employees affected by the closures. 

As far as events currently scheduled for October and November at the closing locations, those will be rescheduled, if possible, according to officials, and might take place at the store’s remaining locations. 

All event information will be updated on TatteredCover.com and the site will continue to operate and fulfill orders as normal. 

Tattered Cover was founded in 1971 and is Colorado’s largest independent bookstore. Free-speech advocate and noted literary author Joyce Meskis was the sole owner in 1973 before she passed in December 2022. Since, the store was acquired by Len Vlahos and Kristen Gilligan in 2015 and has most recently been owned by Bended Page, LLC since December 2020.