Portrait Of A Bookseller 1984

I recently ran across the above photograph of me, taken back in 1984 at the upstairs sales desk of the Hatch's Bookstore in Denver's University Hills Mall. When I first started working as the manager of that store three years earlier, it was the smallest in the Hatch chain, occupying a corner location, next to the doors leading to the parking lot. Then the bookstore expanded into a vacant space next door, with an outside entrance. An opening was created between the two spaces, a short stairway was put in, leading to the lower level, and the Hatch's Bookstore at U-Hills became the largest in the chain. That new space had a solid wall of glass fronting the parking lot, providing spectacular views at sunset, and making it a great place to work. The year that photograph was taken, I took a job at the University of Denver Bookstore as Assistant Manager and General Book Buyer. I immediately missed Hatch's and the good times I had with the staff and general public there, and regretted my decision to leave. But in the long run, working at DU proved to be far more stable than Hatch's. The chain went out of business years ago, and the mall where that Hatch's Bookstore was located was torn down and replaced by a King Soopers grocery store. A tough business that is getting even tougher these days. A very sad reality.