Ann Christophersen and Linda Bubon, who founded Women & Children First, Chicago, Ill., in 1979 and put it up for sale last October, have sold the store to two staff members, Lynn Mooney and Sarah Hollenbeck. They described the new owners as their "colleagues, both literary feminists who are invested in the same mission that began the store almost 35 years ago." The sale marks another successful ownership transition for established independent bookstores in the past several years.
Christophersen, a former American Booksellers Association president, will retire in August, but work on special projects and consult at the store. Bubon will work a couple of days a week at the store and host the Wednesday morning children's story time and the monthly Women's Book Group; she looks forward to more time, she said, "to read, write, perform (and play golf)."
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Lynn Mooney is the store manager; before joining Women & Children First she worked in the publishing industry for more than 20 years, including stints at HarperCollins and McGraw-Hill. Sarah Hollenbeck, a bookseller at the store, is a writer who earned an MFA in creative writing from Northwestern University and whose essays exploring sexuality, gender, disability and the perception of self have appeared in literary journals and blogs including TriQuarterly, Dogwood and In Our Words. She has worked at Independent Publishers Group, StoryStudio, Borders and Barnes & Noble.
Mooney and Hollenbeck have a vision, the store said, that "builds upon Ann and Linda's enduring legacy with a fresh energy and commitment to amplify the voices of the next generation of feminists. Over the years, Women & Children First has thrived as a feminist bookstore, a neighborhood bookstore, an LGBTQ support network, and the anchor for Andersonville's dynamic shopping district of locally owned businesses. By rejuvenating the current space and diversifying the store's events and programming, Lynn and Sarah intend to create a 'third place' that physically and philosophically invites spirited, respectful dialogue about feminism--what it was, what it is, and what it must become."
Photo of Hollenbeck and Mooney by Ross Forman/Windy City Times