BookBar, Denver, Colo., has hired four "seasoned industry professionals to take the store into a vibrant post-pandemic future," the store has announced. "This team will lead the way on our planned addition of a new event space and book art gallery and other plans in development."
Jonah Kaplan was hired to manage the bar in July after moving to Denver from Miami, where he managed restaurant operations for his family's bookstores, Books & Books. He joined Books & Books after sustaining a career-ending injury while pursuing a sports degree at the University of Miami. He looks forward to introducing BookBar's new literary-themed cocktail menu and expanding its catering options for events. "A bookstore is so much more than retail," Kaplan said. "It is a community place that brings magic and culture to its surroundings."
Katie Rothery, the new operations manager, has more than 15 years of bookselling experience in Denver, beginning as an entry-level bookseller in the Cherry Creek Tattered Cover. She has served on the Advisory Council for the American Booksellers Association and on its task forces for Point-of-Sale and IndieCommerce. She is currently a member of the Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association Advisory Council.
Lindsay Goldfinger, the new bookstore manager, has more than a decade of experience working at some of the largest indie bookstores in the country. She has always been passionate about bookstores and appreciated everything they bring to a community. Although she loves curling up with a good novel, nonfiction has always been her jam, especially books about nature, psychology, and mindfulness.
Hillary Leftwich, the new event coordinator, has been the curator and host for At the Inkwell Denver for more than four years in partnership with BookBar and organizes other reading and writing events around Denver. She is the author of Ghosts Are Just Strangers Who Know How to Knock (CCM Press), Aura--a memoir (Future Tense Books, 2022), and a collection of hybrid forms and prose poetry forthcoming in 2023. She teaches for Lighthouse Writers and runs Alchemy Author Services and Writing Workshop.
BookBar owner Nicole Sullivan said, "Even with the tenuous public health and economic situation we still find ourselves in, I couldn't be more excited about where BookBar is heading with this trusted group of industry professionals who bring with them decades of combined experience."