Denver City Wire

BookBar, a wine bar and bookstore that operated in Denver for 10 years, will permanently close its doors after the holidays.

The independent bookstore and wine bar is located on Tennyson Street at West 43rd Avenue, according to 9NEWS. It will close after the Christmas season on Jan. 31. 

Nicole Sullivan, BookBar's owner, said the store is closing due to mounting costs and her fatigue. She cited rising business costs and the increase in Denver's minimum wage from $7.78 in 2013 to $17.29 in January 2023, The Denver Post reported. This represents an approximate 122% surge in the last 10 years. She wrote in a blog post that the minimum wage increase was "the final nail in the coffin" for her business. 

Sullivan said she did not expect BookBar to survive more than a decade, according to The Denver Post. She felt "an underlying sense of relief" when the business was forced to close in March 2020 due to COVID-19.

"No one was more surprised than I was when it started looking like BookBar would actually make it through the pandemic," she said.

She is eager to slow down and spend more time with her family and friends following COVID, 9NEWS reported.

"Ten years feels like a good run for a hybrid business model that requires an intense amount of work and financial investment," Sullivan said. "As much as I will miss the community we've created at BookBar, I’m truly ready to move on, shift my focus, and definitely work less."

Sullivan will continue to work with The Bookies, another Denver bookstore; BookGive, her nonprofit organization; and publisher BookBar Press, according to The Denver Post. She is hopeful that "some other book lover with big ideas and an abundance of optimism" will fill the void left by BookBar's departure.