City Stacks Books and Coffee Now Pouring Downtown

City Stacks Books and Coffee opened in December on a block of Wazee Street downtown previously short on retail establishments. Father and son owners Kevin and Ben Gillies are aiming for a neighborhood coffeehouse ambiance with a selection of books geared toward city dwellers -- think architecture, design, sustainable food...

By Mark Antonation

January 7, 2015

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City Stacks Books and Coffee opened in December on a block of Wazee Street downtown previously short on retail establishments. Father and son owners Kevin and Ben Gillies are aiming for a neighborhood coffeehouse ambiance with a selection of books geared toward city dwellers -- think architecture, design, sustainable food and container gardening -- but also with an ample list of other bookstore standards like fiction, travel, cooking and history.

Keep reading for more photos of the cafe and bookstore.

Gillies says much of the cafe offerings are sourced locally, including Corvus Coffee, pastries from Cake Crumbs Bakery and chocolate from nearby Ritual. He's also supporting local businesses by selling novelty items like Rolli Stamps from Funnybone Toys. He's also planning on hosting a product launch for new products from Funnybone and plans to bring in neighborhood guest speakers and Colorado writers.

"We can't compete with the Tattered Cover for national authors," explains Gillies, "so we're trying to complement by finding out what our neighbors want." He's also working on hosting internet radio broadcasts with thoughtful topics from the bookstore. City Stacks is open Monday through Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Keep reading for more photos of City Stacks Books and Coffee.

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Mark Antonation is the former Westword Food & Drink Editor. In 2018, he was named Outstanding Media Professional by the Colorado Restaurant Association; he's now with the Colorado Restaurant Foundation.

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