What Happened to Western Springs' Book Stores?

If you lived in Western Springs in 1928, you could buy a hardbound book for just $2. But, you would have to go to Lillig’s Plumbing office at Burlington & Grand Avenue. That’s where Suzanne Keller rented space for her “Roof Tree Library”. She also operated a lending library. This location would become home to the village’s first public library.

Western Springs also had a newsstand on Burlington Avenue, just across the street from the railroad station. It offered some books and paperbacks, not just magazines and newspapers. The Western Springs Newsstand operated well into the 1960’s.

In the 1970’s, the place for books was the lower level of “The Tower Gift Shop”. It was located on Lawn Avenue, just south of the bank building. Literally, the entire floor was devoted to books of all kinds.

In 1974, Ann Robertson opened “The Book Rack” on the corner of Central and Hillgrove Avenues. The store sold thousands of used paperback books for half of the cover price. It also allowed customers to trade books for other titles. Many customers felt that the friendly banter between employees and customers was as important as the books themselves.

In 1997, the store was purchased by Sue Wisthuff, who operated it in much the same way with most of the same employees. But, starting in 2009, sales began to decline, which Wisthuff attributed to the weak economy and the advent of the Kindle. But, business never recovered and, by 2011, it was necessary to close the store.

In the village’s Garden Market Shopping Center, there were two bookstores. The first was “Crown Books”, which was part of a chain. Known for low prices, Crown gained fame in the 1980s and early 1990s for its clever advertising campaigns. One featured the owner, Robert Haft, sitting on large stacks of books with the caption “Books Cost Too Much, That’s Why I Opened Crown Books. Now You’ll Never Pay Full Price Again!”. While the Western Springs store was very successful, the owners of the chain became embroiled in a series of bitter family lawsuits, eventually leading to a bankruptcy.

In 2001, another bookstore chain, “Books-a-Million”, purchased Crown’s Western Springs store, along with seven other Chicago-area locations. While it continued to operate until 2006 or so, it eventually closed due to competition from larger book stores and Internet-based companies like Amazon.

In 2001, Ray Hodgson opened another type of bookstore in Western Springs. Known as “Comics Galore”, the shop was located on Hillgrove Avenue, just west of the Community Bank. The store was a favorite with school kids and was crammed full of current comic books, back issues, action figures, and posters. But, it would also close its doors by 2008.

Sadly, the only local stores that currently sell books or paperbacks are Tuesday Morning and Walgreens. But, despite this, the Thomas Ford Library remains a bastion for book lovers. Why not stop in and check out one of your favorite titles?

Each week, the Western Springs Historical Society presents a “Blast from the Past”. To view prior stories, visit us at www.westernspringshistory.org or just click on the author’s name shown above.

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