CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Like many small businesses, Anderson’s Bookshop pivoted during the pandemic.
With locations in Naperville and Downers Grove, the independent store closed its doors and turned to the Internet.
“There was a lot of scrambling and figuring out, how do we get more business from our Internet sales? And that's what exploded,” owner Becky Anderson said.
Anderson’s Bookshop’s online sales were up between 300% and 400% over the last year.
“I can't tell you how many messages and notes we got that said, ‘We really want to support Anderson’s. We want to order from you,’” she said.
Although shipping went through the roof, the surge in online sales didn’t make up for the 30% of total revenue lost during the pandemic, the owner said.
It’s not the bookshop's first pandemic.
Anderson’s has been selling books in the western suburbs since 1875, which is probably why it received such a helping hand.
“I think a lot of people felt that they really needed to support their community. That means supporting your local businesses.”
The independent bookstore, which is known for bringing in big-name authors, continued to hold virtual events. They weren’t nearly as successful, Anderson said.
“Some events where we could have maybe sold 1,000 books, we might have sold 70.”
Anderson expects the return of in-person author visits this fall.
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