Utah Stories

Ken Sanders Rare Books Forced to Relocate

A downtown bookstore of 17 years may be forced to relocate. Can the city do anything to help?

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utahscuratorofcool
Store owner Ken Sanders

After 18 years of downtown business in Salt Lake City, Ken Sanders Rare Books will have to relocate in the next three to five years due to city development.

From Councilman Luke Gattor, to many in Mayor Becker’s office, the city has been helpful and concerned, but whether they can do anything or not remains to be seen.

Even though Sanders is upset to be “thrown under the development bus” and being unable to do anything about it, he remains composed and optimistic for the future of his book store. With the situation at hand, Sanders feels his loyal customers will seek him out wherever he goes because of the uniqueness of his rare books, maps, postcards and paper ephemera inventory. Sanders’ intentions are to stay in downtown Salt Lake City. “We like folks to be able to drop in and see us during lunch breaks. We would miss the interaction with downtown if we’re forced by the economics to move elsewhere,” stated Sanders.

The toughest part about the move for Sanders is the chaos, expense and disruption of moving hundreds of thousands of books. “Come shop with us so we don’t have to move all these bloody books in two years!” said Sanders. He wants his customers to know that this is only a transition. Sanders has been selling books for years and will continue for many more.

Ken Sanders Rare Books is located at 268 South 200 East
Open from 10 am- 6 pm M-S

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