PW names bookstore finalist

Publishers Weekly named Denver’s The Bookies Bookstore a finalist for its 2026 Bookstore of the Year award on April 16. (publishersweekly.com) The Bookies opened in 1971, and Publishers Weekly said founder Sue Lubeck ran the store until her death in 2021. The magazine described the shop as a 55-year-old community gathering place in Denver. (publishersweekly.com) The store changed hands twice in five years. Nicole Sullivan bought The Bookies in 2021 and moved it to its current 7,000-square-foot site on Holly Street, and Kirstin Gulling bought it in 2025. (publishersweekly.com) Gulling told Publishers Weekly she wants the store to function as “a gathering space,” with book clubs, story times and author events. The store’s calendar lists weekly Animal Cracker Story Time sessions and a Denver Writes creative writing club for ages 10 to 16 in April 2026. (publishersweekly.com) (thebookies.com) Publishers Weekly said children’s books account for about 60% of The Bookies’ sales, while educational materials and adult fiction are also strong categories. The store’s website bills it as an independent bookstore for children, families and teachers. (publishersweekly.com) (thebookies.com) The finalist nod comes less than a year after another ownership transition that kept the store open. Westword reported on July 1, 2025, that Sullivan had said The Bookies would close in summer 2025 if no buyer emerged, before Gulling stepped in. (westword.com) Publishers Weekly has been rolling out its 2026 finalists one store at a time this week. On April 15, it named The Book Worm Bookstore in Powder Springs, Georgia, as another finalist. (publishersweekly.com) (publishersglobal.com) For The Bookies, the nomination lands as the store tries to extend a run that began in a basement in 1971 and now employs about 20 people, including four full-time staff members besides Gulling. (publishersweekly.com)