New CEO starts at independent Colorado bookstore Tattered Cover

New CEO Brad Dempsey officially took the reins of independent bookstore Tattered Cover on Wednesday, taking over the iconic 52-year-old Colorado business at a difficult time in the bookselling industry.

The Colorado native is a lawyer and past political hopeful who had spent the past two months working as an outside adviser for the company.

In spite of “pretty substantial financial obstacles” that the business currently faces, Dempsey pointed to the Tattered Cover’s “incredible intrinsic value” to Colorado history that gives it an advantage. Right now, his primary goal is to grow sales and build the store’s inventory – “to sell more of what sells.”

And he’s hopeful about the future of brick-and-mortar bookstore market.

“There’s still a very viable business model for the independent bookstore,” Dempsey said. “There’s still margin and ROI, for all the people who are into that – which, you know, investors are.”

Aside from the original location at Cherry Creek North on Second Avenue, Tattered Cover has seven other stores in and around the metro area and Colorado Springs, according to the business’ website.

Dempsey will succeed Kwame Spearman, the previous CEO who’s vying for an at-large seat on Denver’s school board in the November election after a failed run for Denver mayor. Spearman stepped down from his position in April.

Moving forward, “he’s no longer part of the operations or the management team,” said Dempsey, who identifies Spearman as an investor in the company. “That’s the role he will have for the time being.”

Tattered Cover and its former owner Joyce Meskis often stood at the center of First Amendment issues, with Meskis – who died late last year – pushing for free speech over the course of her life and winning two Colorado Supreme Court cases in the process.

Dempsey said he’s “here for the mission” of defending free speech, and he called the bookstore chain “one of the most important companies in the market to support First Amendment and protect First Amendment rights.”

His new leadership role adds another position to his resume, which includes decades in the legal field and an unsuccessful bid for a U.S. House seat to represent Colorado’s 7th Congressional District as a Republican.

But this isn’t technically his first foray into the publishing industry – he’s listed as a co-author of “Injunctive Relief: Temporary Restraining Orders and Preliminary Injunctions.”

“It’s exciting because it’s a company that I have grown up with, and am deeply passionate about,” Dempsey said.