Quimby's Bookstore
{{Short description|Independent bookstore chain}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=May 2025}}
{{coord|41.910720|-87.674780|type:landmark_region:US|display=title}}
{{Infobox company
| name = Quimby's Bookstore
| image = Quimby's Bookstore storefront.jpg
| image_size =
| foundation = {{Start date|1991}}
| founder = Steven Svymbersky
| owner = Eric Kirsammer (Chicago), Steven Svymbersky (NYC)
| location_city = Chicago, Illinois
| location_country = United States
| locations = 2 stores
| area_served = {{unbulleted list|Chicago metropolitan area|New York metropolitan area}}
| industry = Bookseller
| products = Independently-published books, comics, and zines
| num_employees =
| homepage = {{URL|https://www.quimbys.com/}}
| footnotes =
| intl =
}}
Quimby's Bookstore is an independent bookstore located at 1854 W. North Ave in the Wicker Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois.{{cite web |title=FAQ |url=https://www.quimbys.com/faq |website=Quimby's |access-date=12 May 2020}} In addition to the main location, Quimby's NYC opened in 2017 at 536 Metropolitan Ave in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. Quimby's specializes in selling independently published and small press books, zines, comics, and ephemera, describing its collection as favoring "the unusual, the aberrant, the saucy and the lowbrow". The Chicago Tribune has described Quimby's as "a treasure" and "an unofficial clubhouse for zine lovers",{{cite news |last1=Borrelli |first1=Christopher |title=Quimby's at 25: still a Wicker Park treasure |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-ent-0915-quimbys-20160913-story.html |access-date=12 May 2020 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=14 September 2016}}{{cite news |last1=Mullaney |first1=Tom |title=The zine scene |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/books/ct-xpm-2013-03-23-ct-prj-0324-zines-20130323-story.html |access-date=12 May 2020 |work=Chicago Tribune |issue=23 March 2013}} and Inc. magazine has featured it as "Chicago's weirdest bookstore".{{cite web |last1=Buchanan |first1=Leigh |title=How Chicago's Weirdest Bookstore Keeps Its Edge |url=https://www.inc.com/leigh-buchanan/how-quimbys-bookstore-keeps-its-edge.html |website=Inc. |access-date=12 May 2020 |date=13 July 2015}}
Description
Along with a curated selection of traditionally published books, Quimby's Bookstore sells independent publications, often featuring bizarre or unusual subject matter.{{cite web |last1=Farrow |first1=Hannah |title=Community drives three independent bookstores to thrive despite digital-heavy environment |url=https://news.medill.northwestern.edu/chicago/community-drives-three-independent-bookstores-to-thrive-despite-digital-heavy-environment/ |website=Medill Reports |publisher=Northwestern University |access-date=12 May 2020 |date=10 December 2019}} For those who are interested in the DIY ethic and self-publishing, the collection of zines and chapbooks at Quimby's has made it an international destination, with manager Liz Mason describing it as "a tourist destination for cool people".{{cite web |last1=Martin |first1=Nate |title=Quimby's Bookstore |url=http://www.stopsmilingonline.com/story_detail.php?id=1183 |website=Stop Smiling magazine |access-date=12 May 2020}} Nearly a quarter of the store's stock consists of self-published works purchased on consignment from artists and writers around the world.
Prominent themes in Quimby's stock include feminism, LGBTQ culture, punk, anarchy, and political and cultural resistance;{{cite web |last1=Kravitz |first1=Melissa |title=Quimby's, iconic Chicago bookstore, opens in NYC |url=https://www.amny.com/entertainment/quimby-s-iconic-chicago-bookstore-opens-in-nyc-1.13114115/ |website=AMNY |access-date=12 May 2020 |date=13 February 2017}} other categories include fringe or counterculture topics such as conspiracies, erotica, and "mayhem".{{cite book |last1=Lingeman |first1=Richard R. |title=The Nation Guide to the Nation |date=2009 |publisher=Vintage Books |location=New York, NY |isbn=9780307387288}}
Both stores host multiple events each month, including author readings, book signings, film screenings, and more. The Chicago store hosts pop-up shops at local events like the Chicago Zine Fest and the Chicago Alternative Comics Expo (CAKE), as well as hosting a yearly "zlumber party," an overnight event for zinesters to work on their creations.{{cite web |last1=Rosenberg |first1=Al |title=Zlumber Party: Quimby’s All Night Zine-Making Event |url=https://womenwriteaboutcomics.com/2015/02/zlumber-party-quimbys-all-night-zine-making-event/ |website=Women Write About Comics |access-date=12 May 2020}} Quimby's Chicago is a long time supporter of zinesters and comic artists such as John Porcellino and former employee Edie Fake.{{cite web |title=Featured Brickseller: Quimby's Bookstore |url=https://brickmag.com/featured-brickseller-quimbys-bookstore/ |website=Brick : a literary journal |access-date=12 May 2020 |date=26 August 2013}}
History
Quimby's was opened September 15, 1991, by Steven Svymbersky;{{cite news |last1=Borrelli |first1=Christopher |title=Another Quimby's grows in Brooklyn |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/ct-quimbys-nyc-ent-0529-20170526-column.html |access-date=12 May 2020 |work=Chicago Tribune |date=28 May 2017}} the original location was a former bodega at the corner of Damen and Evergreen.{{cite web |title=After 25 years, Quimby’s is an Ever Evolving Bastion of Freakdom|department=Arts & Culture |url=https://chicagoreader.com/arts-culture/after-25-years-quimbys-is-an-ever-evolving-bastion-of-freakdom/ |website=Chicago Reader |access-date=12 May 2020|first=Brianna |last=Wellen
|date=September 14, 2016}} Svymbersky, who had previously lived in Boston, had run a store "with a similar vibe" there called the Primal Plunge.
The name "Quimby's" came from the zine that Svymbersky had published for five years in Boston before moving to Chicago. Cartoonist Chris Ware was an early customer of the store who had coincidentally drawn a comic strip named "Quimby the Mouse"; Ware gave his permission for the mouse character to become the store's mascot, and he has designed each of the stores' logos.{{cite web |last1=Le |first1=Hoang Nam |last2=DeSilva-Johnson |first2=Lynne |last3=Harburg |first3=Emily |title=Bookstores we love: Quimby's [interview with Steven Svymbersky] |url=https://medium.com/the-operating-system/bookstores-we-love-nyc-chicago-quimbys-a8db75c97aca |website=Medium |access-date=12 May 2020}} By the mid-1990s, Quimby's was a Wicker Park mainstay and helped define the neighborhood "as a national epicenter of cutting-edge underground culture and cool".
In 1997 Svymbersky sold the store to Eric Kirsammer, owner of Chicago Comics. Soon afterward, Kirsammer bought the property at 1854 W. North Ave and moved the store to its current location. In 2016, the store celebrated its 25th anniversary.
Svymbersky opened Quimby's NYC in 2017; the two bookstores share no financial relationship.{{cite news |last1=Knutsen |first1=Chris |title=The Resurgence of New York City's Indie Booksellers |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-resurgence-of-new-york-citys-indie-booksellers-1507130044 |access-date=12 May 2020 |work=The Wall Street Journal |date=4 October 2017}} Because Quimby's NYC is located next door to Desert Island Comics, it does not sell comics or graphic novels.
In December 2024, Kirsimmer announced he would be selling Quimby's, hoping to find a new owner who would keep the store in the building and rent from him. At the same time, long-time store manager Liz Mason announced she would be leaving Quimby's to pursue other ventures.{{cite news|title=Quimby’s Bookstore, Wicker Park’s Indie Publishing Paradise, For Sale After More Than 3 Decades |first=Dan |last=Kelly|date=December 10, 2024|work=Block Club Chicago|url=https://blockclubchicago.org/2024/12/10/quimbys-bookstore-wicker-parks-indie-publishing-paradise-for-sale-after-more-than-3-decades}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Official website|https://www.quimbys.com/}} Quimby's Chicago
- {{Official website|https://quimbysnyc.com/}} Quimby's NYC
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JSep72V03Dc A Behind-the-Scenes Tour of Quimby's with Liz Mason] 30-minute video from the Chicago Zine Fest (2020)
Category:Independent bookstores of the United States
Category:Book selling websites
Category:Small businesses in Chicago
Category:Shops in New York City
Category:Bookstores in Brooklyn
Category:Bookstores established in the 20th century
Category:American companies established in 1991