Paige Dungan has spent most of her years around books, from being read poems by her mother, to spending more than 20 years marketing books, to writing her own book.
She now owns a bookstore in downtown Denver, where she wants to share her love of reading and build a community gathering place. Her store, opened April 1 in Larimer Square, joining the growing number of independent book sellers in metro Denver and across the country.
“My whole background has been in book publicity,” Dungan said. “Once I really started finding my footing in the field, I wanted to make sure that I was advocating for authors’ voices.”
She wanted to help people tell their stories, whether the books were released through traditional or independent publishers.
“I knew one day I wanted to have a bookstore because I am so big on the community-building piece of it. I always knew it needed to be the right time and the right place to bring all of my worlds together,” Dungan said.
The right place was in Denver’s Larimer Square. Dungan, originally from Arkansas, said she’s proud of Denver and believes downtown is on the rebound despite a slow comeback from the economic shocks unleashed during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“I’ve watched it kind of go through these ebbs and flows. I think like we all have,” Dungan said. “I feel like, unless all of us as community members try, things will never change. And we have to build what we want to see, right?”
The store at 1413 Larimer St. is meant to be a place for all ages, Dungan said. Little Blue Pigeon has about 4,000 titles in stock, spanning several genres: history, fiction, nonfiction, mysteries, romance, fantasy, books for children and young adults, cookbooks, classic literature and self-help books.
Dungan said she personally selects the books, using feedback from customers and book clubs. She gets recommendations from other independent book sellers.
“I really kind of want to stretch your reading into different ways because I feel like that’s why we go into bookstores, to discover something we wouldn’t have just ordered on our own.”
Dungan said approximately 20% of the books will be by local and Colorado authors. She plans to hold events with writers and will host a book club.
Little Blue Pigeon is partnering each month with a Denver-based literacy organization for its Book Forward program. For every five books sold, one book will be donated to that month’s partner.
Dungan has teamed up with local artists to sell book-themed shirts and other items. Artwork by , a local, women-owned business that creates murals, covers an entire wall of the store with children’s book characters.
“We wanted classic children’s book literature characters because no matter what age you are, my hope is, you recognize them and you get excited about a memory from them,” Dungan said.
There’s a space for children to color and a table with trains. Dungan was thrilled to see kids reading while sitting on the cushions in the window seats.
The inspiration for the name of her store came from Dungan’s childhood memories of her mother reading to her. Her mother often read by Eugene Field. The poem is about the “Little blue pigeon with velvet eyes” being sung to sleep by its mother.
Along with providing people with books to explore, Dungan wants to offer a community hub.
“I feel, and not just with bookstores, there’s kind of this movement across all industries where we want to go back to something tangible, something we can touch, we can feel, we can interact with. And human connection,” Dungan said.
Regional and national bookstore associations are reporting increases in the number of independent booksellers. The , a national trade organization for indie stores, reported more than 3,200 member locations in 2025, compared with about 2,200 in 2020.
The Colorado-based , with members in 14 states, has seen its membership increase significantly every year, said Heather Duncan, the executive director.
The association reported the opening of 18 member bookstores in 2025 and five so far this year.
“The trend definitely seems to be for stores to continue opening,” Duncan said in an email.
Duncan has said independent book sellers saw new interest during the worst of the pandemic when people stepped up to support local businesses.
Lois Harvey, the former owner of West Side Books in Denver’s Highland neighborhood, said in an interview in February that she had seen more young people choosing to read books instead of scrolling on-screen.
“I think people are understanding that the experience of reading a physical book gives them comfort and gives them pleasure,” Harvey said.
Dungan said she is seeing a mix of people walk through her doors: people who live downtown, work downtown and people visiting from out of town.
“It’s really neat to see the vibrancy of Denver kind of coming together,” she said.
