Bookstore named Isis targeted by vandals

Store has been around since 1980 under the Isis name


A suburban Denver bookstore has been vandalized repeatedly this year, because of it's name.

The people who run Isis Books and Gifts in Englewood, Colorado want the world to know it's name comes from the Egyptian goddess of healing and motherhood and it isn't run by terrorists.

Co-owner Jeff Harrison says the shop has been vandalized five times in the past year or so, probably by people who mistake the name for ISIS, one of the acronyms for the Islamic State terrorist group.

The latest vandalism came last weekend when a store sign was smashed after the terrorist attacks in Paris that killed 129 people.

The store sells books and gifts related to spirituality, religion and healing. "Isis is the name of an Egyptian goddess, 3,500 years old at least, the goddess of women and healing and childbirth — basically the antithesis of everything the terrorists are about," he said.

Harrison suspects the vandals are "some ignorant people believing that somehow the terrorists have a store, a gift store, in the middle of Denver, Colorado."

The store has been around since 1980 under the Isis name. The Harrisons have owned it since 1997.

The store has not suffered from the name confusion. "Business has been fine. Actually on the uptick," Harrison said.

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