Natural Rocky Mountain Beauty, Tourists, Adventurers, and Filmmakers Keep Between the Covers Filled

In 1998, when Stuart Brown finally tired of Jack Daniel's, he and his wife Joanna decided to devote themselves to books. They purchased a slightly dog-eared, 34-year-old bookstore after moving up to Telluride, Colorado (altitude 8,745), from Louisville, Kentucky (altitude 462), where Stuart was a marketing brand manager for the Jack Daniel's brands.

"Joanna and I had spent a lot of time in Telluride, and we were looking for a business opportunity," said Brown. "It so happened, this bookstore was for sale. The store was in real decline. We've remodeled it, tripled the inventory, expanded the espresso bar -- I think people would say that out of the 11 or 12 coffee places on the block, ours is the best."

Pedestrians rule in the small town's main shopping street, and Brown considers his location "almost perfect…. We are on the very first block of the best retail area in town," he told BTW. "The only improvement I could possibly make would be a switch to the other side -- the sunny side -- of the street." The turn of the century building, housing the 1,300-square-foot store, was erected by area miners and is "crooked and creaky -- just a great space," said Brown. The Browns wouldn't mind expanding, if suitable space became available. For the moment, the nearest chain bookstore is in Grand Junction, Colorado, 120 miles away.

The notable festivals and events held in Telluride offer tremendous opportunities for the booksellers. Mountainfilm in Telluride, an annual festival of adventure, environmental, and cultural films held each May, brings a few dozen authors, including alpinists and mountaineers, who visit the store and do readings. In the first weekend of September, during the Telluride Film Festival, the town -- and the store -- are teeming with well-known actors, directors, subjects of bio-pix, and many others who have books to promote.

Brown is quick to attribute a good deal of the store's recent success to the Book Sense program. "It [Book Sense] has been awesome, and we really appreciate everything they do. In the past, we used the New York Times Bestseller List. Since we switched to the Book Sense Bestseller List, we have never looked back. Book Sense has been particularly helpful with trade paperbacks, and, when we sell hardbacks, they are Book Sense picks. We have a constant display of Book Sense titles -- our community is well aware of Book Sense." -- Nomi Schwartz