Instead of closing as expected, look what store is returning to Delano

When last we checked in with Al’s Old & New Books owner Anita Siemer, she said she was brokenhearted because she wasn’t sure how she could afford to keep her downtown store open due to struggling sales.

“I feel like I failed the bookstore,” she said. “I didn’t want the store to die.”

As it turns out, it won’t.

Al’s is going to continue its perpetual trek up and down the Douglas corridor by returning to the Delano neighborhood from where it came before moving downtown to the retail center attached to the parking garage at Block One.

The new store will be in 2,400 square feet at 1700 W. Douglas, which is a couple of blocks west of Seneca. That’s a couple of doors down from 1710 W. Douglas, where it used to be in Delano.

“I love that neighborhood,” Siemer says. “So I’m pretty thrilled to be moving back there.”

The store first opened in the early 1940s under another name. The Al’s name has been around since 1957.

The store’s last day in business at Block One was Saturday. Siemer hopes to open the new store in time for Delano’s St. Patrick’s Day parade.

First, she has to once again move 40,000 books. Siemer is, unbelievably, not fazed.

“It’s easier this time,” she says. “I’m not having to downsize.”

Also, Siemer has a deep love for the printed word in book — not electronic tablet — form.

“There’s lots of wonderful old books out there that shouldn’t be thrown away, that have a lot information in them,” she says. “We still believe in hard-copy books.”

She buys, sells, and trades books. Most of what Al’s has is used books, but Siemer also has some hard-to-find new books that larger chain book stores may not carry.

By visiting a book store like Al’s, she says, shoppers can discover titles they probably wouldn’t find any other way.

“There’s something about coming to the book store,” Siemer says. “I’m going to be very happy to be back in the neighborhood.”

This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 11:09 AM.