Publishers Weekly Names Anderson's 'Bookstore of the Year'

Anderson's Bookshop, a Downers Grove fixture for three decades, was named Bookstore of the Year Monday by Publishers Weekly magazine.

Becky Anderson, co-owner of the fifth-generation family business, will accept the award April 25 at Book  Expo America.

"We were blown away," said Kathleen March, children's manager for the Downers Grove store. Anderson's also operates a second book store and the Two Doors East gift shop in Naperville, a book fair division and the family business that started it all, Oswald's Pharmacy.

The book store, which evolved from the pharmacy in 1964, "received dozens of nomination letters and e-mails," according to the Publishers Weekly website. 

One of the letters came from Ev Taylor, regional sales manager for Penguin Books for Young Readers, according to the site. “I don’t really know of another store as involved in their community as this store, or as involved with their local schools, or as involved with authors or in giving authors a platform. They do everything and they do it a bit better than other stores,” he wrote. 

Anderson's learned three weeks ago it was a finalist along with Boulder Bookstore in Boulder, Colo., the King's English Book Shop in Salt Lake City, Utah, and Village Books in Bellingham, Wash.

"Just making it into the final four was an honor," March said. "We knew we were up against some stiff competition." 

It's a familiar role for the independent bookseller, which has managed to withstand the changes roiling that niche in recent decades: first the onslaught of the big chains and then the rise of Amazon.com.

"One thing that indies have that really sets us apart is our knowledge and passion and love for what we do," March said. "It goes to expertise. We're reading, we know what's coming down the pike. We can be at the forefront of getting behind a book or a theme."

Anderson's famously promoted an obscure book about wizards more than a decade ago, even hosting the unknown author twice for book signings. Ticket sales were so sparse for J. K. Rowling's Tivoli Theatre appearance that the bookshop's staff pounded the pavement to drum up interest.

Of course, time vindicated Anderson's belief that the book, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," was something special. By the time the last books in the series debuted, the store was catering to Harry's many fans with midnight book releases and street fairs that closed down Main Street.

Maybe it was those and other special events that "put us over the top" with Publishers Weekly, March said. "We host events for local authors all the way up to events where we have to rent the Tivoli." Anderson's also holds annual Children's Literature Breakfasts and Young Adult Conferences featuring keynote speakers and break-out sessions with authors.

That mix of marketing and  innovation, plus a bedrock appreciation for books, has allowed Anderson's to hold its own in a tough market, March said. "I was just reading in an article that first-quarter book sales were down 4 percent across the nation," she said. "We really haven't felt that because we're so well entrenched.

"Knock on wood, we've had 30 wonderful years in Downers Grove and we hope to have at least another 50."