For nearly three decades, Used Book Emporium in downtown Longmont has welcomed customers from all walks of life in search of their next great read.

A handwritten note on the local business’s entryway at 346 Main St. reads “Door Sticks — Push Hard.” However, it’s another sign on Used Book Emporium’s front door that really catches people’s attention; the one that says “Store Closing Oct. 15 — last day of business.”

“One thing that people keep coming in here and asking us since we’ve announced we’re closing is, what are you going to do with all these books?” Debbie Karle, who co-owns Used Book Emporium with her sister Linda Uhrich, said Thursday. “Well, we are hoping that all or most of them go.”

As of Thursday, the shop had about 63,000 used books, according to Uhrich.

Patrons peruse the store’s tall wooden shelves that are full of various genres of books, as Karle helps ring up customers on a busy weekday.

“In a bookstore, you don’t try to push things on somebody,” Uhrich said.

“You try to find the one that’s for them.”

After more than 28 years in business, Karle and Uhrich decided it was time to retire. While retirement was their primary reason for closing, rising property taxes and the loss of public parking due to the nearby construction of Hotel Longmont also factored into their decision. It’s unclear what will become of the space once Used Book Emporium moves out.

“We have wonderful customers,” Uhrich said.

“Some we see regularly almost every week. Some not quite as often but … it’s wonderful when they come in.”

Greg and Tracy Whipkey, who have been going to Used Book Emporium for more than 20 years, said the local business is their favorite bookstore and were sad to hear it’s closing.

“It’s just relaxing to come down to a bookstore. They usually have … the strange book that you’re looking for,” Greg Whipkey said. “To me it’s been … just a great resource that we’ve had down here for all these years.”

Karle and Uhrich’s mother, Carol Grossman, started Used Book Emporium in 1996 on Ninth Avenue in Longmont. The store moved to its current location in historic downtown Longmont in 1997.

Bookselling has not been the easiest business for some in recent years.

As reported by The Denver Post earlier this year, the nationally known independent bookstore The Tattered Cover, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in late 2023, accepted a sales offer from Barnes & Noble.

Financial trouble was not cited by Karle or Uhrich as a reason for closing Used Book Emporium.

Kathe Heinecken, who owns Barbed Wire Books, 504 Main St., in Longmont said in an email Friday that she knew Grossman as a “true bookseller.”

“She was a wonderful woman who read everything and was very helpful to me in starting a brand new school library back in the ’90s,” Heinecken said.

At least until Oct. 15, customers can count on seeing Karle and Uhrich at Used Book Emporium in Longmont, just like they have been for all of these years.

“It’s been wonderful,” Karle said.