When I first came to Denver in 1981, I worked for Hatch's Bookstore, a local bookstore chain owned by Bob Hatch. I managed the store at the University Hills Mall, which started out as a small bookstore, but then expanded next door into a space with an outside entrance (see photograph of me above), instantly making it the largest store in the chain. Those were probably the happiest days of my life, although I didn't know it at the time. Why can't someone take you aside when you are young and let you know that? They would be doing us all a big favor. Or perhaps they do tell us, but we are too young to listen. In any case, the Hatch's Bookstore chain, as well as the Hatch's Card Store chain - not to mention the mall itself - is long gone, and I am finishing my working life at the last and only local bookstore chain in Denver. So I am very lucky there are still people around who still like books. Let's hope that continues.
Nice memory about a great but vanished brand. I worked at the Westland Hatch's, starting in 1985 and continued to return there during summers and holidays after the Westland mall closed and most of the staff and inventory moved to Golden.
ReplyDeleteI would have loved to see Hatch's in its prime. It sounds like you were an exceptional manager David. Sincerely, "Bob" Hatch III
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