In the beginning...
Side note: Not only is this delicious concoction my personal favorite cocktail in Denton, it's also a pink drink. I agree with the mixologist and argue the Opera House is straight-up pink (with a purple trim), but some just say it's purple.
Either way, this historic structure is coined by Recycled Books as a "an unmistakable part of Denton’s cultural landscape."
And that is a fact.
Built in 1901, the Wright Opera House has quite a bit of history within its walls, and some even say it's haunted.
Although it only operated as an actual opera house until 1913, this historic building has housed many other businesses over the past century including a movie theater, department store, an office supply store, and finally, Recycled Books.
OG Dentonite Becomes an Iconic Small Business Owner
While the office supply store occupied the Opera House, Don Foster was running Recycled Books just down the road — a bookstore generously buying and reselling used books, CDs, DVDs, records and more.
Don's ex-wife had originally opened the bookstore on West University Drive in 1983 to be near two universities and her relatives — who, I might add, is coincidentally related to the Wright family of the Opera House, where Recycled Books now resides.
Clearly it was destiny. But back to Don.
Don grew up in Denton, graduated from UNT with a bachelor's and master's degree in English, and even worked at the university for a period of time.
As a true master in English studies, it's no surprise Don was also an avid bookworm.
After frequenting this local bookstore off University Drive, he got to know the owner quite well and they eventually got hitched. Thereafter, they ran Recycled Books together and expanded their overflowing bookstore to a new location off Oakland Street near TWU.
The Oakland Street location had other small businesses renting out adjacent sides of the building. But once those folks moved out, their generous landlord allowed Don and his ex-wife to punch out walls and expand their bookstore into each of those unoccupied spaces. Their artsy vibes and maze-like layout had locals selling books to Recycled like it was a factory line, causing them (again) to max out their expanded space in a snap. They were simply running out of space to hold all the books they purchased.
But then the stars aligned.
In 1990, the office supply store had gone out of business and left the Opera House unoccupied (which their landlord also happened to own). This provided a clear cut path for Recycled Books to expand the bookstore to this even bigger location.
During that time, the downtown square was a sleepy spot with not many thriving businesses other than the Downtown Mini Mall, McNeils Appliances and the original location of Denton County Independent Hamburger.
However, once Recycled Books came into the neighborhood, it helped create a symbiotic sense of community and encouraged other new businesses to join them along the square.
Denton's Favorite Bookstore
Once they hauled all their books into the new Opera House location, it filled up a surprisingly small amount of space in this massive 2-story building with a basement — they only had enough books to fill up the front part of the store.
But within two years, they received an inexhaustible surplus of books that helped fill up the entire building (top to bottom, front to back) and once again created those "maze" vibes that people know and love today.
While Don has been running Recycled Books, he's been greeting customers behind the counter and running the bookstore through all the amazing changes Denton has seen the past 35 years (especially the past 10).
Through the hustle and bustle of owning a business, what keeps Don going the past three (almost four) decades are the joys of meeting fantastic people and seeing customers' faces light up after finding a book they've been searching for.
But being a small business owner isn't always sunshine and roses.
After their long-time landlord decided to sell his properties (including the Opera House) around 15 years ago, the new landlord tried to force Recycled Books to move their business somewhere else.
Lawsuits later, Don's efforts paid off and thankfully got to keep the bookstore in the pink-and-purple structure (and eventually got a better landlord to take over).
One key moment that Don recalls propelled his bookstore's popularity was when well-known author Larry McMurtry had once visited their original store on Oakland Street, but came back to their new Opera House location to buy an armful of books. And of course, Don didn't miss the opportunity to get one of his books autographed!
In the future, some of Don's children hope to run the family business and keep the Recycled Books legacy alive.
The bookstore continues to donate non-purchased books to Denton charities, including Denton County Friends of the Family. Before the pandemic, they also participated in various Denton events (i.e. Wassail Fest) and hosted many in-store events including book signings.
Then Came COVID-19
While nobody could've prepared for an unexpected global crisis, Don stayed positive and found the silver lining. The timing of the temporary shutdown was actually better than if the pandemic had occurred the previous spring.
After Christmas of 2018, tons of people had sold huge collections to Recycled Books — and money was quickly flying out the door. After Christmas of 2019, they didn't buy as many books and it prepared them better financially when COVID-19 came around. This allowed them enough temporary funds to keep their employees during the shutdown.
Even with loans and grants (both national and local), Don knows the "money well" eventually runs dry. So his loyal crew helped pivot the bookstore to offer curbside pickup, delivery, and "mystery bags" chock full of hand-picked reads based on the customer's preferred genre. Gift cards have also been a huge help to keeping the bookstore afloat.
Don and his employees are eternally grateful to the Denton community for their support during this time.
As we continue to face the pandemic, Don reminds customers to always wear a mask — it's not a political issue, it's a safety issue for everyone.
One of the newest and coolest events that Recycled Books created during the pandemic is its very own book club (currently virtual): Recycled Virtual Book Club. Right now, you can join the no-pressure online discussion every month on Zoom to chat about the selected book. Buy the book from Recycled and join the fun!
Gifts that Keep On Giving
The holidays are coming! Support our favorite local bookstore by purchasing gift cards and merch. Recycled Books sells more than just novels and collections for the bookworm in your life — they've got gifts for gamers and music junkies, too! We're talking about CDs, records, DVDs, video games, board games and much more.
Become a True Fan!
Other than wearing Recycled merch to show your true loyalty, don't forget to like/follow them on social media to stay in the loop with their events, updates and offerings.