Little Blue Pigeon
Audio By Carbonatix
Larimer Street was Denver’s first commercial district, full of shops and other businesses, but by the time this city passed the century mark, it had turned into its Skid Row. Then Dana Crawford started resurrecting the 1400 block of the street in the mid-’60s, and what was now dubbed Larimer Square became Denver’s first historic district in 1971.
For decades, even through ownership changes of Larimer Square itself, notable stores and eateries attracted tourists and locals alike: retail shops like Victoriana Antique and Fine Jewelry and Crybaby Ranch, some of the city’s most inventive restaurants, and the much-missed deli/bakery/gathering spot The Market, which closed up shop back in 2020. The pandemic and post-pandemic years were tough, with many moves and closures.
But now a new chapter is opening: Paige Dungan and her independent bookstore, Little Blue Pigeon, have landed in Larimer Square.
Little Blue Pigeon, which has a soft opening on Wednesday, April 1 (no fooling!), will host a grand opening on April 25, with snacks and a variety of free activities, including caricature photos with fictional favorites, a book personalization sticker bar in partnership with local artisan Unruly Wit, and a children’s scavenger hunt with prizes.
The event mirrors the earnest, book-forward literary love that inspired the store. Dungan says she wants Little Blue Pigeon to be “more than just a retail space. We want it to be a gathering place on a street that’s needed one for a bit. We want people to come in and feel welcome, to pick up a book and read.”
The books will all be curated — about two-thirds fiction, one-third non-fiction, from a wide spectrum of genres, and designed for any and all ages. There will be a priority placed on local authors and Colorado books, but the basic idea is that when someone comes in and expresses interest in a book, Dungan or her staff will have something specific that recommends it.
Little Blue Pigeon
Dungan’s love for books goes back to her childhood, when Babysitter’s Club and Boxcar Children books filled her shelves. Even the name of the store is something she’s drawn from her childhood literary inspirations: the term Little Blue Pigeon is from the Eugene Field poem “Japanese Lullabye.” (“Sleep, little pigeon, and fold your wings/Little blue pigeon with velvet eyes/Sleep to the singing of mother-bird swinging/Swinging the nest where her little one lies.”)
Dungan’s career followed in a similar trajectory. “I became a book publicist,” she says, “and have worked in that capacity on the publishing side for years.”
She had her first publishing venture with a cookbook in association with Dickey’s Barbeque Pit, and later worked with Success magazine and its non-fiction publishing arm. “After that, I started my own book publicity firm, working with the big five publishing houses as well as independent authors,” she recalls. “But I always wanted to own a bookstore.”
Little Blue Pigeon came about because Dungan says she got an offer that she couldn’t pass up. “I was talking with the folks behind Larimer about this space that had opened up,” she explains, “and they were so excited about the idea for the bookstore. They kind of gave me terms I could not say no to. That was in December, and they said I needed to be open by spring. So it’s been quick, but you know you’re doing the right thing when everything just seems to fall into place, and it has.”
Some might think that the Denver market is already crowded with bookstores, what with the local juggernaut that is Tattered Cover, not to mention other indie bookstores having recently opened up for business. But Dungan says she’s a fan of all bookstores, and believes there’s room in Denver for everyone, not to mention enough hunger for the written word to keep them all in business.
“I’m a firm believer in having as many bookstores as we can, because we’re all so different,” she says. “We may carry similar titles, but the heartbeat of what we do and what we offer is completely separate. There’s room for all of us, because the literary work is so, so important.”
It’s a philosophy that guides Little Blue Pigeon’s plans for author events as well. “We’ll welcome national authors when there’s opportunity, sure,” says Dungan, “but the core author events will all be local, within the state of Colorado.”
The space is “small but mighty” at about a thousand square feet, she says, but the store has movable tables to allow for book groups and smaller events. And she’s in talks with Apollo Hall, a bigger event space in Larimer Square, to host larger events when the opportunity arises.
The focus on literacy also shows up in the store’s “Book Forward” initiative: For every five books sold, Little Blue Pigeon will donate a book to a different charitable organization each month. “It’s a way to give back,” says Dungan, “but also a way to promote reading as the important aspect it is.”
For the first month of business, the organization that will get donations is none other than BookGive, the nonprofit that was at one time connected with the late, lamented BookBar — another literary destination that sought and succeeded in giving those who love books that “third space” that so many miss in today’s digital world.
Sometimes, it’s the details that make a space what it is. And since Little Blue Pigeon seeks to provide a thoughtful inventory of books, it stands to reason that the decor would be thoughtful as well. Even the walls are inspired — hand-painted in swirling blues, conjuring Frog and Toad (Arnold Lobel’s much beloved children’s book characters) and many other images of literary whimsy, courtesy of local artists Julie Barnett and Abby Anderson, of local women-owned business Lupine Design. Their art helps create a cozy aura in the Little Blue Pigeon space.
Sort of makes you want to curl up with a good book, doesn’t it? And on Larimer Square, no less.
Little Blue Pigeon opens for business on Wednesday, April 1, at 1413 Larimer Street. There will also be a grand-opening celebration from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. April 25. For more information, check the Little Blue Pigeon website.
