RIVER WEST — A popular bookstore known for stocking titles by authors of color and promoting literacy in Chicago schools has closed — but it will reopen this year on the West Side.
Semicolon Bookstore, 515 N. Halsted St., closed its longtime home over the weekend. Owner Danielle Mullen said she made the decision after a long-delayed effort to buy the building where she’s operated off and on since 2019 fell through.
But Semicolon won’t be gone for too long, Mullen said.
Mullen is moving her bookstore to East Garfield Park, where she hopes to open by late summer in the Fifth City Commons development under construction at 3155 W. Fifth Ave. It was to have been a second location for the store, but now Mullen is shifting gears to make it Semicolon’s headquarters.
The space will include not just books for sale but also a bar and restaurant, which will be run by Mullen and her wife Kimberly Moore, who also co-own 1308 Restaurant near Goose Island.
The vibe will be similar to the Busboys and Poets chain in the Washington, D.C., area, and it will offer “book and wine flights” plus cocktails and a full food menu, Mullen said.
“We’re going to create meals and drinks that go along with the books themselves, and I’m super excited about that,” Mullen said Tuesday. “Beyond that, Garfield Park has a very strong community image, and we are excited to start an internship with Marshall High School where we could bring interns in to not only learn about bookselling, but also learn about restaurants and restaurant management.”
Semicolon has become a staple in Chicago’s literary community since opening in 2019. But it’s also faced a fair share of challenges as Mullen has pivoted multiple times to keep her business going.
In 2021, the store moved from its original location at 515 N. Halsted to a larger space on Division Street in Wicker Park.
While sales were solid, the rent was higher and there was less of a community feel than in River West, Mullen said. In 2022, she moved Semicolon back to its original space with plans to buy the building.
That process became drawn out and ultimately did not move forward, Mullen said. In the meantime, she converted her business over the summer to a nonprofit to be eligible for grants and other funding to support Semicolon’s literacy efforts.
Those have included giving away books to Chicago Public Schools students and as well as to Chicago rapper Vic Mensa’s Books Before Bars program, which sends books to incarcerated people across Illinois. Donations will continue while Semicolon is closed for the next six months or so.
“Our community service work is still happening. That can’t stop,” Mullen said. “So we’re still doing school visits. We’re still giving books away to students while we’re closed, so we’re making sure that our community work comes first.”
There was an outpouring of support from longtime customers and neighbors during Semicolon’s last days in business at its Halsted store on Saturday and Sunday, Mullen said. People brought doughnuts, and some even left open tabs so people who may not have been able to afford books could still take some home, she said.
“That is why I’m so intentional about our community,” Mullen said. “We have built this from the ground up, and we have people who just love other people who support us.”
While construction on Semicolon’s next chapter is being completed in East Garfield Park, Mullen said she plans to rest and recuperate after almost five years of non-stop book selling and events. But once the she gets the keys for her next storefront, she’ll be springing back into action, she said.
“I want our customers to know that I am beyond grateful for them and the work that they do is what keeps me working,” she said. “And so I’m excited for this next part that will come this summer.”
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