Dream Team: Bookie's Reopens In Shared Space With The Rock Shop

HOMEWOOD, IL — Book it, baby! They're back. Just months after Homewood's independent bookstore was forced to shutter due to a rent hike and lack of sales, Bookie's owner Keith Lewis has found a way to bring it back, while also working alongside a longtime friend.

Lewis has partnered with another local niche concept, The Rock Shop, to inhabit a shared space and inject new life into both shops' fan bases. Lewis and The Rock Shop co-owner Laura Bruni were in a rush to get the space ready for the holiday shopping season, and they beat their deadline. They'll open Tuesday, Nov. 22—just three weeks after taking possession of the space, and ahead of Black Friday shopping and the holiday rush. They're located at 18109 Dixie Highway, and will be open Nov. 22, 23, and 25, from 12 to 6 p.m. Regular hours will be Tuesday through Saturday, 12 to 6 p.m.

"I never wanted to close," Lewis told Patch, of his previous space on Ridge Road. "It was necessary to close at that location, and this location came up more quickly than I imagined. Just seeing the customers again and being open in time for the holiday season ... That’s huge."

Lewis and Bruni have known each other some time, having attended high school together, Lewis said. She was one of the early employees when Bookie's opened in 2018, he added. Bruni and fiancé Craig Frank had been looking for space for their business, which prides itself on being "all things rock. Guitars, records, rocks, crystals. ... you get the idea."

"The Rock Shop has been looking for an appropriate space for their ventures for a couple of years," Lewis said. "We have been discussing some kind of joint venture for since I mentioned my desire to find a spot with a smaller footprint and cheaper rent to make reopening more feasible."

Bruni said the collaboration came about "really, really quickly." She and Frank "had been eyeballing the current space for more than a year now.

"We considered renting the same space last year, but didn’t pull the trigger quickly enough and missed out," Bruni told Patch.

When the three began considering the space together, initially it was with the idea that Bookie's would be more of a pop-up concept, but additional thought led them to believe a split of the space would work even better. It seems timing was everything for this joint venture.

As they take in the nearly finished atmosphere, all seems to have fallen into place.

"Books take up considerable floor space," Bruni told Patch. "Fortunately, rocks don’t. So we were able to integrate the space nicely, I think."

The Rock Shop offers vintage vinyl, custom guitars and concert paraphernalia (Frank’s side of the concept) along with ethically sourced rocks, minerals and fossils (Bruni's side).

It all feels like a natural fit, particularly books and records, Lewis said.

"I think books and records go hand in hand," said Lewis. "It just makes sense. People often wished I carried records when I was on Ridge Road. I wasn’t interested, really, as books are my passion, but Craig is really into vinyl. And it’s a good time for him. I got rid of my records in the mid-90s. Now I’m buying them up again. A lot of people are rebuilding their collections. Craig still has his."

Frank's record collection "numbers in the thousands," Bruni told Patch.

"When he moved in with me in 2019, we decided he really needed to make the dream of opening a store a reality, mostly because we couldn’t fit everything in my house," she said.

Bruni and Frank are both employed full-time elsewhere. Frank is Director of Finance for Governor’s State University’s Center for Performing Arts, and Bruni is a former print journalist who has been freelance editing for 15 years. With a surge in her business during COVID-19, she found that her home office was less than ideal, and the space on Dixie Highway has an existing office. With some adjustments such as soundproofing and the addition of Frank's recording equipment, that space will now lend itself to podcast recording, while giving Bruni a new space for her editing work, she told Patch.

"Craig is really excited to offer people in the community a place to come record podcasts and for about half what they are charging in the city," Bruni told Patch.

The Rock Shop's business model will differ slightly from that of Lewis' for Bookie's, Bruni said, "which hopefully will work to everyone’s favor."

With Bruni's editing work intended to cover the couple's portion of rent, her contributions to The Rock Shop's offerings will mostly reflect what appeals to people.

"I’m pretty much envisioning my space as the gift shop attached to a book and record store, and we already have super successful gift shops in the area," Bruni said. "I’m not interested in competing with any of them; those women are my friends. I don’t have the time or the bandwidth to curate lines of anything, but I am deeply invested in carrying one-of-a-kind, hand made, local good 'stuff.'"

Bruni plans to host local artist Ashley Zagotta, who will offer custom jewelry settings for Bruni's raw stones, "and her work is exquisite," Bruni said. She also plans on hosting jewelry-making workshops. Local woman Barb Haggerty will also hold pop-up events with her baked goods, "and I am gaining weight in anticipation," she added.

It was a flurry preparing to open the store in such a short timespan, Lewis said, but he's excited to open again. Bruni recalls a statement from Lewis at the lease signing, noting that he said, "a one-month turnaround for a business closing doors and then signing a new lease has got to be a record." He told her he's "just really glad my van (which reads Chicago and Homewood) isn’t lying anymore." Bookie's website is up and running, for perusing.

Lewis stressed community support will help the reinvigorated Bookie's be successful. Local businesses are essential to communities like Homewood, he said.

"They make the neighborhood so much better," Lewis said. "People come to downtown Homewood and check out what kinds of businesses they have. The better and more plentiful the businesses, the more desirable the area. I need people to come shop."