Founded in 1974 by Dean and Mary Walker, The Gallery Bookstore operated as one of Salem, Oregon’s anchor downtown independent booksellers for a quarter of a century. Located on Commercial Street SE near the Willamette River, the shop combined new general trade titles, regional Pacific Northwest history, children's literature, and local art prints. During the 1980s retail boom, the Walkers briefly expanded operations to an auxiliary location at Lancaster Mall to reach east Salem suburban shoppers before reconsolidating at their downtown storefront. Faced with increasing pressure from emerging suburban big-box chains and early online bookselling shifts in the late 1990s, the Walkers announced the closure and liquidation of the business in 1999.