Atuagkat Bookstore ( Greenlandic for "books") was Greenland's only

bookstore Bookselling is the commercial trading of books, which is the retail and distribution end of the publishing process. People who engage in bookselling are called booksellers, bookdealers, book people, bookmen, or bookwomen. History The found ...

, located in the capital Nuuk. Atuagkat Bookstore (colloquially Atuagkat) had a wide range of books within, among other things,

fiction Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying character (arts), individuals, events, or setting (narrative), places that are imagination, imaginary or in ways that are imaginary. Fictional portrayals are thus inconsistent ...

biographies A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curri ...

and

memoirs A memoir (; , ) is any nonfiction narrative writing based on the author's personal memories. The assertions made in the work are thus understood to be factual. While memoir has historically been defined as a subcategory of biography or autobio ...

children's literature Children's literature or juvenile literature includes stories, books, magazines, and poems that are created for children. In addition to conventional literary genres, modern children's literature is classified by the intended age of the reade ...

English literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

for young people, in addition to the world's largest collection of Groenlandica within the bookstore industry, including an extensive

antiquarian An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic si ...

collection of Greenlandic publications. Atuagkat also had a wide range of games, posters, and maps of Greenland. Atuagkat was founded on 5 May 1966 and was Greenland's oldest bookstore. It closed on 15 January 2025.

1966–1985

Atuagkat was founded by Det Grønlandske Forlag in 1966, with the aim that the profits from the book trade should cover the publisher's expenses for book publishing. Bent Elkjær Danielsen was employed as leading bookseller; he resigned in 1968. Poul Bay was employed as the new bookseller in 1968, and held the position until 1983.

1985–2005

In 1985, Inger Hauge was given the position of leading bookseller and the following year she took over from the publisher, and Atuagkat Boghandel thus became the first Home Rule-owned company to pass into private hands. She ran Atuagkat Bookstore together with her husband, Steen Amandus, who owned Kontorteknik. The two companies were merged and run as Atuagkat & Kontorteknik until the turn of the millennium. In 1991, Atuagkat celebrated its 25th anniversary with a
anniversary newspaper
and with the performance of Dario Campeotto. In 1999, it was decided to divide Atuagkat and Kontorteknik. The office department remained at the address, now run by Cuno Møller Jensen, Lennie Pedersen, and Jens Raage as Kontorhuset. In the meantime, Atuagkat moved with the book department into the little blue house on Imaneq, which many today still remember Atuagkat as. Inger Hauge founded Forlaget Atuagkat in 1994, which she ran herself until 2017, when she chose to stop taking in new books due to her advanced age. The last book she published was
The Porous Poet and the Snow Sparrow
by Hans-Erik Rasmussen.

2005–2025

In 2005, Claus and Dorthe Jordening approached about a share in the business. This led to a real generational change, with the couple taking over the bookstore, while Inger kept Forlaget Atuagkat. The Jordenings continued to run Atuagkat in the blue house until 2010, when the house, due to the Greenland Government's plans to build a shopping center and offices for the Greenlandic government. Atuagkat temporarily moved into the old Kamik building not far from the original location. Atuagkat had a home here until 2012, when the Nuuk Center was ready. Atuagkat Bookstore closed in May and reopened in July as Atuagkat Bog & Idé in Nuuk Center. The room they moved into is in almost the same place as the blue house. In 2015, Atuagkat chose to move out of Nuuk Center again, and in the same connection they left the chain Bog & Idé, and thus became Atuagkat Bookstore again. They moved into Aqqusinersuaq 4. When the Jordenings decided to move to Denmark, they spent six months trying unsuccessfully to sell the bookstore, then closed it on 15 January 2025.

References

{{coord, 64, 10, 30, N, 51, 44, 14, W, display=title Bookstores in Greenland Companies based in Nuuk Independent bookstores Buildings and structures in Nuuk Retail companies established in 1976 1976 establishments in Greenland Bookstores established in the 20th century