Book Store To Open In Homewood This Summer

HOMEWOOD, IL - It has been a longtime need in the community, and come summer it will finally be here. Homewood will soon have a book store in the community.

Keith Lewis, owner of Bookie's New And Used Books in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood, confirmed this week that he has signed a lease on a downtown Homewood space that will soon become Bookie's Homewood.

Eyeing a July 1 opening, Bookie's will take over the former Medina CasaFina Art Gallery at 2015 Ridge Road. It's a 2,300 square-foot space that Lewis says has "a lot of potential."

"There's not a lot of work that needs to be done on the front section, and we are going to try and get a back room going for a kids' space," he said.

Plans are for a children's section to be separated by a door from the room with regular books, which will be on display closest to the street.

"Homewood has been on the radar for me for awhile," said Lewis, whose owned Bookie's Chicago for nearly three years.

"There are some really nice businesses going up," he said. "They are trying to make it a place for young professionals with families, and a bookstore really fits in a place like that."

Lewis is a resident of Beverly, but this won't be his first connection in Homewood. He lived here as a child for two years, having attended James Hart School for eighth grade and Homewood-Flossmoor High School for his freshman year of high school.

He said that about a month ago he was talking to a customer at the Beverly store about a book the customer needed, but one that Bookie's wouldn't be able to get in stock until the next day.

The customer, a Homewood resident, told Lewis he came in from the suburb and wouldn't be back in the area the next day.

"I told him I'd love to open another store, and that Homewood would be the place," Lewis said.

The very next day, according to Lewis, Homewood Mayor Rich Hofeld came into the Beverly store and asked him to consider doing just that very soon.

The Homewood resident and mayor popping into Bookie's Chicago on back-to-back days is believed to be a coincidence.

"It was an absolute coincidence," Lewis said. "Kind of like one of those destiny things."

Lewis was sold on the mayor's pitch, and after attending a business breakfast in Homewood and looking at a few properties here, he settled on one in the heart of town.

Hofeld said he was "delighted" to hear of Lewis' plans to open in Homewood, noting that residents have asked him several times over the past 15-20 years to land a book store in the area.

He said the village hasn't had its own book outlet since Crown Books on Halsted Street closed nearly 20 years ago.

"It's something we've wanted for quite awhile, and something we are delighted to get."

Photo: Keith Lewis stands in his Bookie's store in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood / Courtesy of Caroline Connors, Morgan Park Beverly Hills Business Association