RoscoeBooks Stuck In Cramped Temporary Location As Condo Construction Drags On

ROSCOE VILLAGE — At RoscoeBooks’ temporary home, science books are stacked on the floor beneath the crowded graduation section, while children’s books are piled atop one another and wrapped in brown paper to create makeshift shelving. The narrow aisles leave little room for browsing, and booksellers have had to get creative about displaying new releases, organizing inventory and making the most of what little space they have. It’s not how RoscoeBooks owner Erika VanDam envisioned running her independent bookstore during the holiday shopping season. The store was forced to move two doors down from its longtime home at 2142 W. Roscoe St. in September to accommodate a construction project in the condominium unit above it. What was supposed to be a temporary six-week relocation has lingered for months, with no firm timeline for when the bookstore can return to its original space. The delays have left VanDam and her staff trying to navigate the busiest stretch of the year in a space that wasn’t designed to be a bookstore, while dealing with added expenses, disorganized inventory and limited room for displays and events. “We’re doing our best, but it’s frustrating not to feel like we can do our jobs as effectively and as well as we’re used to doing,” said February Spikener, the store’s manager. The move was supposed to be temporary. VanDam said she understood the arrangement would last about six weeks, with the store expected to return to its original space by late October. Instead, the project has dragged on, leaving the bookstore in a makeshift home during one of the most important stretches of the year for independent retailers. VanDam said she was told Oct. 7 that Nov. 30 was the earliest possible date for a return. Since then, she said, there has been no construction activity in the space for about a month and no new timeline. “I am in limbo,” VanDam said. “I don’t know when I’m going to be able to go back to my store. I think the chances of it happening before the end of the year are probably nonexistent at this point.” The temporary storefront is slightly larger than the original space, but it was never designed to function as a bookstore. VanDam said the walls in the old location were lined with shelves; the new space had few of them when the store moved in. Staff had to buy additional shelving, settling for less-than-ideal lower-cost options. Books have been knocked around and damaged, and the store has struggled to find room for its full inventory. Improvising has been a necessity. Books of all genres are stacked and displayed on makeshift shelving, while overstock items are in the basement and a back office. Some special-edition books can no longer be displayed, and the crowded layout makes it harder for customers to browse and for staff to keep everything organized. “We’re now operating out of a space that was never designed to be a bookstore,” VanDam said. “That has had costs that I don’t think I really foresaw when we made the move.” The disruption has also changed how the staff handles the everyday work of running the store. Displays are harder to maintain, new releases can get buried and finding a particular book can take longer. Staff members have tried to solve those problems by rearranging shelves and bringing in items from home, but many fixes come with added costs or create new complications. VanDam said customers have continued to support the store, with regulars checking in on when it can return to its original location. But the uncertainty has made those conversations increasingly difficult. “I feel like I’m just giving the same bad news over and over again, and dying a little bit more inside every time,” she said. Block Club Chicago reached out to the Roscoe Street Condominium Association, which is listed as the owner of the property, for comment. A call was not returned by Thursday evening. “We’ve been pulling books off the shelves and sending them back to publishers because there are sections that are too tight, especially fiction,” Spikener said. “That increases the labor involved and costs us money because we have to pay for shipping to send those books back.” The worst part about the delay is that there is no end in sight, VanDam said. She said she has not seen any work happening in her original space. “I haven’t seen anybody from the construction company,” she said. “Nothing has happened inside that space. It has been untouched for a month.” To add salt to the wound, RoscoeBooks is celebrating its 12th anniversary on Nov. 21. The store usually has a celebratory sale that is a boon for its business. Preparing for the milestone in the cramped temporary store is less exciting than it has been in previous years. “All of us are solution-oriented people, and it’s very hard to be working with a solution-oriented person and not be able to execute those solutions because we just can’t,” Spikener said. RoscoeBooks is maintaining its regular hours at the temporary storefront. It is open 10 a.m.-7 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday. ______________________________________________________________________ Support Local News! Subscribe to Block Club Chicago , an independent, 501(c)(3), journalist-run newsroom. Every dime we make funds reporting from Chicago’s neighborhoods. Already subscribe? Click here to gift a subscription , or you can support Block Club with a tax-deductible donation. 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