Sandmeyer's Bookstore turns 30
and hosts a celebration with words and music
05/31/2012 9:17 AM
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At the Jazz Showcase during the 30-year anniversary party for Sandmeyer's Bookstore
It's more likely that an independent bookseller has a funeral these days, not a birthday party--but Sandmeyer's Bookstore on Printers Row just celebrated 30 years on the street--and it's a testament to the neighborhood that it not only survives, but thrives.
What with NATO in the neighborhood just ending (from rolling closures to flying excrement--neither of which I saw hide nor hair of during the Summit) and the Printers Row/Chicago Tribune Lit Fest about to begin next weekend, I don't want Sandmeyer's recent milestone to slip between the cracks. Especially since the quaint bookstore in the historic Rowe Building hosted a lovely event at the Jazz Showcase in the Dearborn Station to celebrate its 30 years.
All the movers and shakers in the South Loop were there. There were kudos and congratulations in honor of the store, of course and readings by local authors who sell their tomes at Sandmeyer's. Last but not least, one of Ellen and Ulrich Sandmeyer's sons, Rolf, performed with his band Harry and the Hit Men. The band explained between tunes that the reason they were wearing plastic wrist bands was because the hotel they were staying in on the eve of NATO made them don them upon checking in.
"They let us get back into the hotel; problem is, they keep us out of the protests," said a member of the band.