Final Chapter for Beloved Bookstore

It's business as usual at Best Sellers Books in Palos Heights on a Thursday in mid-August, as a stream of customers flows in and out of the shop. Many of the shoppers are unaware this store is closing at the end of the month — until they see the sign on the door.

"Yep, I'm retiring," owner Jean Gnap says about a dozen times, as almost every customer inquires about the sign.

Gnap has owned Best Sellers for 33 years. She said it's not the economy, poor sales or loss of passion that's responsible for closing the doors. It's just time to do it.

"Thirty years is long enough," says Gnap, who has served as an alderman in the 1st Ward on the Palos Heights City Council for the past nine years. "I hate to see another business leave this town, but I've put this off a couple of times already. My knees are in bad shape, my shoulders. It's hard to keep it up anymore."

Despite the decision to close the doors to her bookstore at 6509 W. 127th St., Gnap isn't planning to slow down too much. She has written three children's books she hopes to get published, she wants to learn nature photography, and she has no plans to decrease her civic and community involvement.

"My aldermanic term is up in April and I plan on running again.  There are some projects I want to see through to completion," Gnap explains while simultaneously informing a customer about upcoming road work on 127th Street.

Gnap says she came to open a bookstore after a vacation with her husband, John.

"While we were down there I went into a used bookstore and bought some Agatha Christie novels. I asked my husband, 'Why don't we have a used bookstore in Palos?' "

Her brother and sister-in-law agreed the town needed just such a store. At one time, the family had three stores – one in Palos Heights, one in Oak Lawn and one in Orland Park. The Orland and Palos stores merged years ago, and Gnap's brother is going to keep open the Oak Lawn location, Paperback Trading Co. Gnap said she's glad for that. It's easier for her to close her doors knowing she has a place to refer all of her book-loving customers.

Gnap's own love affair with reading began well before that fateful vacation with her husband.

"I remember when I was a little girl, my mom scolding me: 'Get your nose out of that book and go outside and play,' " Gnap says with a smile.

Her personal favorites are mystery novels. She has read most of the Agatha Christie, James Patterson and John Grisham books on the shelves.

When asked if she'll miss the store, she says she'll miss the customers and friends who frequented the shop, but she sounds firm in her conviction that the time has come. Her grandchildren live in Connecticut and she wants to see more of them. That is a  happiness she knows will counter the sadness of retiring.

"When you make a decision like this, you don't look back," she says before acknowledging again that she will miss the customers. "Everyone is so nice and polite; I think most people who read books are."

"I've had customers that I remember buying comics as kids, who are now coming in with their own children. If I stayed around a little longer, I could see the third generation," she quips, before more somberly remembering other customers. "We've had other great customers who passed away. That's sad. Someone passing away — a lot more sad than a store closing."

Her customers don't seem too disappointed that the store is closing. They feel Gnap deserves to enjoy her retirement.

Diane Butalla, who said she's been shopping at the store for seven years, says it's the only place she buys books because she doesn't see the point in paying full price.

"I'll be able to read until the day I die now, provided my eyes hold up," Butalla laughs, while filling a box with mystery books.

She says she knows Gnap will enjoy her retirement and she's thankful Gnap ran the store for as long she did.

"I'm happy for her," Butalla says, adding with a laugh: "But I'm not happy for me."

As Butalla boxes up her paperbacks, other customers lug armfuls of one-dollar hardcovers to the counter. Another group zips their fingers over the boxes of comic books, combing for a rare or exciting back issue.

"The comics have always been a great seller here," Gnap says, before calling up another memory of her youthful love of reading. "I remember all the kids on the block used to get together on someone's porch and just read comic books. When you finished one, you traded with somebody else. It was a lot of fun. I remember I always wanted to be Wonder Woman."

Gnap has an action figure of Wonder Woman on her council chambers desk. She says she has Wonder Woman T-shirts as well.

The interview ends as Gnap gets caught up helping her customers —including making multiple phone calls to try to order a required reading book for a young girl.

After perusing the shelves myself for about an hour, I make a few purchases and say goodbye to Gnap.

"Goodbye. I'll see ya around town," she says.

While Palos Heights may be losing a bookstore, it's good to know the town's Wonder (alder-)Woman will still be around.