'Exemplary Independent' Maria's Bookshop Celebrates 20 Years

At the nation's only four-state juncture, in the grand expanse of the West, a 1,850-square-foot bookstore occupies a much larger space in the hearts of residents of, and visitors to, Durango, Colorado. Maria's Bookshop, celebrating its 20th anniversary this month, has purveyed general books and Southwestern art, and has created a sense of community and an atmosphere where quality and service are paramount.

Names like Dusty and Cactus Ed pepper the history of the Main Street store, but nobody named Maria has ever worked at Maria's. The store was founded in 1984 by the aforementioned Dusty "Seldom Seen" Teal, who in 1995 expanded and moved the store to a larger Main Street location a few doors down. In 1998, Teal sold the store to longtime staff member Andrea Avantaggio and her husband, Peter Schertz.

Maria's Bookshop in Durango, Colorado, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month.

Avantaggio was co-manager in 1998 and was not necessarily the highest bidder for the store. But she was "born to the task," according to Maria's first manager, Mary Ann Griffin. Griffin is quoted in the current issue of the publication Inside Outside: Southwest as having said, "It was simply meant to be. Dusty and I talked it over and neither of us could imagine Maria's going to anyone other than Andrea. Rather than making a financial killing, what Dusty wanted was for Durango to have an exemplary independent bookshop that would hold steady to the values we had worked so hard to establish."

Maria's is a very large, small bookstore. It stocks close to 25,000 titles, processes between 150 and 200 special orders a week, and, with a staff of 14, stays open from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. seven days a week. Maria's sponsors 50 active book clubs; supports dozens of nonprofit organizations, including the Southwest Peace and Justice Coalition, the Durango Fire and Rescue Authority, and the national Freedom to Read Initiative; and hosts at least 50 special events each year. Last year, Maria's Bookshop received the Durango Chamber of Commerce Small Business Award.

Author appearances include regional greats, as well as those nationally known. Terry Tempest Williams, author of Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place (Vintage), told David Petersen of Inside Outside that "giving a reading at Maria's Bookshop is like being in a living room with friends. The warmth, the depth of conversation, the glow one feels in the gracious space created, allows one to believe that ideas enter the world one person at a time."

Avantaggio and Schertz spoke to BTW by phone as they prepared for their imminent eight-hour journey, with their two young children, to attend the Mountains and Plains Booksellers Association (MPBA) trade show in Denver this weekend. Participating in the activities of MPBA and ABA has been key to their success as booksellers. "We have used everything that our regional association and ABA have offered. We used ABACUS extensively at the beginning -- it helped us get our feet on the ground," said Avantaggio. "We jumped into Book Sense as soon as we could. It's the best thing that's ever happened to independent booksellers. We replaced our paper certificates with Book Sense gift cards when the new program started, and we are a BookSense.com store, too. We report to the Book Sense Bestseller list and we use the lists as a talking point with customers. People ask if we have the New York Times Bestseller List, and we explain that our list reflects what people at the independents are really reading, not what the big publishers are pushing. The lists sell books. People seem to like being on the inside track."

In its promotional materials, Maria's terms Book Sense "the unrecognized champion of regional authors, literary fiction, local history, and non-mainstream thought."

Schertz, who mainly works behind the scenes, handling the store's financial end, recalled the exact day Maria's implemented the Book Sense Gift Card program. He told BTW, "It was November 3 [2003]. The program has been outstanding. There was a brief learning curve, but we have seen increases ranging from 17 to 22 percent over our store certificates. We promote [the cards] heavily on displays around the store, and we often donate them for community events."

The BookSense.com site, www.mariasbookshop.com, also serves as the store's newsletter and directs people to events and store information. It also enables Avantaggio and Schertz to take advantage of publisher co-op funds.

Avantaggio, a former MPBA president, told BTW that she has always found MPBA and ABA educational sessions valuable. At trade shows, she attends as many workshops as possible and knows that "[she will] always come home with something new and useful. It might come from the presenter, or from comments by other booksellers. The shows are a refreshing reminder that bookselling is a profession, and great people are involved."

The store's 20th anniversary celebration includes a week of special events, from September 20 - 26, with daily refreshments, prizes, and a 20 percent off storewide sale. Local authors, poets, 'celebrity authors,' and young readers will be featured in the lineup of events. The final event celebrates "Readers Rights" and in recognition of Banned Books Week features a showing of "Reading Your Rights," a 30-minute documentary on the Tattered Cover's successful fight against a search warrant for customer records, and a discussion of the Patriot Act and the right to reader privacy led by a local attorney. --Nomi Schwartz