In 1980, there was no bookstore in Boystown that specialized in selling gay literature, so Ed Devereux put his past to the task.
Devereux had previously worked in bookstores—in college, at the Book Center at the University of Illinois and at Barbara's Bookstore on Broadway. He was also a sales representative for a publisher, Random House.
When the storefront at 3251 N. Broadway in Lakeview became vacant, Devereux went into action. "I wanted to sell all kinds of books, so I decided to open up Unabridged as a full-service neighborhood bookstore with a specialty in gay literature," he said.
Flash forward to the present, and Devereux, 57, is now celebrating his 30th anniversary as the owner of Unabridged Bookstore in Boystown.
"The store did well from the beginning," Devereux said. "When [ the store ] opened, we had one wall unit of gay literature, and grew the gay section from there. Before we opened, a group from [ Lakeview's ] Nettelhorst School came to meet with us; they assumed that 'gay books' meant porn, but we allayed their fears about being an 'adult bookstore.'"
In fact, when Unabridged opened, it didn't even sell any of the gay erotica magazines popular at the time—customers had to go down the street to the Waldenbooks that carried them. Several years later, Unabridged expanded north, and then a few years after that expanded south.
It's been a three decade run of growth and changes—good and bad, great memories and moments to forget.
"Changes … there have been many changes [ over 30 years, particularly ] more and more small, gay-owned businesses and bars opened in Boystown, anchoring the neighborhood," Devereux said. "Even as gay people later moved to other neighborhoods in the city, Broadway and Halsted [ Streets ] still have a great gay business presence.
"When we first opened, the bookstore chains in the city were Kroch's and Brentano's, B. Dalton's and Waldenbooks; all of them are now gone. We saw—and survived—the advent of the big book discounters, such as Crown Books, [ which is ] now gone. And also the onslaught of the superstores, such as the Barnes and Noble in our neighborhood which is now gone; and the Border's, now scheduled to close. And [ also ] the advent of online bookselling and Amazon.
"Our mission has always been to be a great bricks and mortar, neighborhood bookstore—and we are still flourishing.
"The demographics of our neighborhood have changed, but we continue to sell a wide variety of books. Interestingly, we sell a lot more children's books than gay books today, even though the gay section is still an integral and very successful part of our store. A recent change in our industry is the e-book; its effect remains to be seen, but I feel there will always be a desire in communities for bricks and mortar neighborhood stores."
Devereux lived in Boystown for 28 years, but for the past two years has called Andersonville home—along with his partner, Patrick Garnett, and their two dogs.
"The [ store ] location we chose turned out to be a very good one," Devereux said. "Our choice to make the store a general store with a large gay section, almost like a store within a store, also turned out to be a good one. Specialty-only bookstores, whether it's a cookbook store or mystery store or a gay store, have all had a particularly hard time with the advent of online bookselling. Early on, we committed to paying living wages, with full vacations and 100 percent paid healthcare, which we still do. This has allowed us to have and keep the most amazing bookselling staff—with low turnover, and workers with bookselling in their blood. We continue to be a neighborhood store where our customers and staff know one another."
There are now three full-time and two part-time staff members at Unabridged.
"The Internet presence of Amazon has certainly changed our business, but our store has continued to flourish," Devereux said. "The recent downturn in the economy affected us like everyone else, but 2010 is turning out to be a good year."
And a memorable anniversary year, too, one that was celebrated in early-November.
"I love what I do. I hope to be here for another 30 years," Devereux said. "I really believe, even with online bookselling and e-books, that there still is a need and desire for real books sold in real stores."
And the handwritten recommendations that are ever-present at Unabridged.
"The yellow shelf signs throughout the store, the handwritten notes, are a signature of our store," Devereux said. "Whenever I meet someone and tell them I own Unabridged, they always say they love our handwritten recommendations. All of us who work here do the signs; it lets us communicate with all our customers about what we're reading and what we like—and customers will let us know if they agree or disagree with our recommendations."
Devereux said it's hard to estimate, but thought Unabridged now has about 20,000 titles in the 5,000 square-foot store. And the gay section maybe one-tenth of the store, about as much as the children's section. The gay section, Devereux said, "remains an essential and successful part of the store."
Unabridged has been the venue for numerous popular, well-attended signing sessions, such as authors Anne Rice, David Sedaris and Armistead Maupin.
"I definitely have a passion for bookselling and a passion for reading," Devereux said. "And like I said, that is also true of the rest of the Unabridged staff."
—Devereux's favorite books: "It's so hard to pick my all-time favorites," Devereux said. "But a good example of a book I've loved that sells weekly, even though it's older ( written in 1999 ) , is Claire Messud's The Last Life. That also shows the power of our shelf signs to sell books. My current favorite book is a novel called simply "C" by Tom McCarthy. My favorite author of the moment is David Mitchell; I have read or re-read all five of his novels during the past couple of months. He is certainly one of the best fiction writers writing today."
