This past Sunday afternoon, I walked past the former location of the Stone Lion Bookstore in Old Town Fort Collins. It closed long ago, first moving from its original location on Old Town Square to a spot across College Avenue, where it closed for good back in 2000 due to competition from both the internet and the Barnes and Noble Bookstore chain. The original location, which opened back in 1982, is now the home of Next Door American Eatery, as seen in the photograph on the left. If you look closely, you can see the stone lion head above the rounded arch over the door, which gave the store it's name.
Regular blog readers will remember that I recently posted the photograph on the right of my sister Susan and mother Mary in front of that doorway around Xmas of 1988, when the store was still a thriving operation. Sadly, running an independent bookstore is a tough job these days, and requires a great location and a large population of people who actually love books. The Strand in New York City, Powell's (the world's largest independent bookstore) in Portland, and even the Boulder Bookstore here in Colorado come to mind, all of which I have visited at one time or another. And thank God, they still exist. Let's hope they continue to do so.
No comments:
Post a Comment