The Magic Tree, a children’s bookstore in Oak Park, Ill., is for sale. Its owners, Rose Joseph and Iris Yipp, who founded the store in the town’s “lively Hemingway Historic District” in 1984, say that they want to retire.
The 1,600-square-foot bookstore, situated in an inner-ring suburb west of downtown Chicago, specializes in children’s books but, in recent years, has been stocking more adult books. It also stocks foreign language books, manga, music, and sidelines. It is well-known among the area’s families for its programming, both author and celebrations of book launches.
The Magic Tree received $6,500 from author James Patterson in May during the second round of grants he announced at BEA that he is doling out to independent booksellers. The store is using the funds to purchase a receipt printer, a CD player, and new computers.
The owners say they are looking for "a booklover who has energy and innovative ideas” to take their store to the next stage.
