In 1979 Hudson Shotwell and James Gimian, two members of Boulder’s Vajradhatu Buddhist community, began constructing the bookshelves and fixtures for what would become Trident Booksellers. In June of 1980 Trident officially opened for business, adjacent to a yarn and fabric store run by two women. The yarn store closed down the following year, and James and Hudson decided to rent that space as well. They opened up part of the pine wood wall separating the two spaces and expanded the bookstore.

Shortly after, they had the idea to add an espresso and drip coffee service to the new bookstore space (there was no other espresso bar in Boulder or Colorado at the time), so in 1981, Trident Booksellers became Trident Booksellers & Cafe. Focused on fine quality coffee, tea, and pastries, along with a wide assortment of books, journals, and cards, Trident rapidly became one of the essential community spaces in Boulder.

Almost six months after COVID-19 changed the face of Boulder restaurants and retail, eight longtime employees of Trident Booksellers and Café signed their names on the bottom line as the Trident became employee-owned for the first time in its 40+ year history. Today we are proud to be a fully employee owned business!

Throughout the years Trident has maintained its focus on serving high quality coffee and tea, customer service, and community - today we stand as the oldest cafe in Boulder. We are internationally known for our specialty coffee from Idle Hands Roasting Company and our high quality, directly imported assortment of tea. The bookstore continues to serve as a beacon of literature and art as a result for our unique collection of new and used books, and for our dedicated and close-knit community. We also host music and book events on our back patio throughout the year.

Trident Booksellers & Cafe is proud to have been serving Boulder and beyond for 45 years! We look forward to being part of the community for another 45+ years!