Drastic rent increase is forcing Evanston's Bookends & Beginnings from its unique space
EVANSTON, Ill. (CBS) -- A bookstore owner in downtown Evanston is being forced to move because of the rising rent – in a scenario that unfortunately happens all the time.
As CBS 2's Lauren Victory reported, Bookends & Beginnings now occupies a space in an alley with an address of 1712 Sherman Ave. in Evanston. Getting there involves a secret passage off the street.
Owner Nina Barrett took over the space in 2014. For 33 years before that, it had been home to the late Roger Carlson's antiquarian bookstore Bookman's Alley – which first announced plans to close in 2011, but made it two more years and shut its doors in September 2013.
Dec. 6, 2011: CBS 2's Kristyn Hartman reports on Bookman's Alley and its plans to close:
"It's sad to me that it won't have that particularly unique piece of coming in off the alley anymore," said Bookends & Beginnings customer Christie.
The new home for Bookends & Beginnings at 1620 Orrington Ave. will feature an even bigger children's section – and it will be open later. But it won't be the same.
This narrative started when a new owner bought the old Bookman's Alley building where Bookends & Beginnings is now located – and more than doubled the rent.
Barrett calls the new Bookends & Beginnings space a "vanilla box." But the move has forced by a 125 percent increase in rent, and negotiations that did not go well.
"Two days before Thanksgiving, he served us with an eviction notice," Barrett said.
It was an unexpected plot twist for Bookends & Beginnings, where customers get lost among the 40,000 titles in dozens of nooks and crannies. The bookstore's current spot is quaint, quirky, and quite hard to replicate.
"There are no straight lines," Barrett said. "The ceilings slope. The floors slope."
Barrett said she will do her best to recreate the coziness of the alley building – but it will cost her. Just to move the merchandise, she was given a quote of $40,000.
Barrett is appealing to the public and politicians for help.
Evanston Ald. Clare Kelly (1st) created a legacy business program – and understands the issue is bigger than the bookstore. How does Evanston balance encouraging development whole also protecting the small fish?
"Meeting and talking to the landlords, and looking at ways, you know, possibilities for long-term leases," she said.
In some cases, it may involve asking a landlord more questions before approving a zoning change. But Barrett will not have time for such solutions, because moving day is seven days away.
"There are many stores that just close when they get a drastic rent increase," Barrett said. "We didn't want to do that."
Barrett is hoping to raise $250,000 to make the new store feel like the old one. Fans already donated $65,000 online, and another $80,000 in grant money is set to be approved by the Evanston City Council on Monday.
But that still leaves a more than $100,000 hole.