Rent Hike, Flailing Sales Force Closure Of Homewood's Bookie's: Owner

HOMEWOOD, IL — The owner of an independent bookstore that had opened a Homewood location only a few years ago, finds himself having to take down his "open" flag almost as quickly as he'd hung it up.

Keith Lewis brought his Bookie's venture to Homewood in September 2018, taking over space at 2015 Ridge Road. Now facing a steep rent hike and decreasing sales, he's found himself forced into closing the shop at the end of the month.

A proposed $150 rent increase — which would rise further to $350 a month the next year — meant Lewis had to a crunch the numbers, hard. He operates a second location in Chicago's Beverly neighborhood, 10324 S. Western Ave., and prior to a close look at the Homewood location's sales, he had not realized how much sales were strained at the latter — and the overall impact that could have on both businesses.

"When we delved into the numbers, we realized that if we continued, we’d probably lose both stores," Lewis wrote on social media. "Our hearts told us that things would improve, but sales were going in the wrong direction for a lot longer than we thought. The problems were just hidden by hope and denial and lack of a recent festival."

Lewis initially was drawn to Homewood by almost serendipitous encounters, several years ago. One with a gentleman who visited the Chicago store searching for three specific books, two of which Lewis had, one he would have to order. That's ok, the customer said, he had made his way there from a few towns over—none other than Homewood. Twenty-four hours later, a gentleman in a suit — Mayor Rich Hofeld — came courting, asking Lewis if he would consider opening in Homewood. And with his own childhood roots in the town, it seemed like a perfect fit.

Lewis toured some open building space, but fell in love with the first one, a former secondhand clothing store.

"I looked around, and I had a vision," Lewis said, "even with its ugly green carpeting."

They moved in and transformed the space into a magical store filled with books to the ceilings and storytime spots with snuggly stuffed animals. They hosted open mic nights and family storytimes. They planted roots in the store, and in Homewood.

But when Lewis' current rent of $1,650 jumped by $150 in the first year of a new lease, continuing on just no longer seemed feasible to he and Operations Manager Rich Wojcikowski. Lewis decided to cut his losses. It didn't come down to only the rent increase, though, he added.

Though there was public outcry when he shared the news on the store's social media, it didn't align with the support the store had been getting during its time in Homewood, Lewis remarked.

"You can blame the Village, you can blame the landlord, but some of those people spent $25 with us in the last two years," Lewis said. "If you want to keep something, you support it. We had fantastic support from some people, but there weren’t enough of them. So unfortunately we had to make that decision."

A former English teacher in the Chicago Public Schools system, Lewis always told his mother he would either become just that, or he would own a bookstore. He first brought the latter dream to fruition when he purchased the Beverly Bookie's location in 2014. The store has been in operation a cumulative 33 years. He later moved it into a bigger location around the corner from the original.

"I tried to give the community the type of bookstore I would want in my neighborhood," Lewis said, "which is what I tried to do in Homewood, too."

Many of the employees from the Homewood location will now move to the Beverly one, Lewis said, where he'll focus his energy moving forward.

He urged the store's supporters to spend their time and money at other local businesses.

"You have fantastic small businesses and restaurants," Lewis wrote. "Keep them in your community. So many of them are hurting right now, and they deserve your business.

"Homewood has wonderful people and beautiful families. Nothing made us happier than to see kids flipping through the pages of books and jumping up and down when they got the books they loved. We have until the end of the month to keep that up."

The store's last day will be Sept. 24 — just three days past the store's four-year anniversary of opening.