Centuries & Sleuths owner August “Augie” Aleksy. (Photo by Igor Studenkov/for Chronicle Media)

It wasn’t the ending August “Augie” Aleksy wanted for Centuries & Sleuths, the bookstore that has been a mainstay of Forest Park’s Madison Street corridor since 2000 — but circumstances forced his hand.  

When he initially announced his intention to retire in May 2023, he said wanted someone to buy the one-story building at 7419 Madison St. and keep it as a bookstore. It didn’t have to stick to the history and mystery concept that made it unique among Chicago area bookstores, or even keep the name. Aleksy simply thought that a bookstore brought something special to the community, and he didn’t want Forest Park to lose that. 

Aleksy entertained two serious offers — and they were serious enough that he held off on his retirement in hopes of getting the negotiations across the finish line. However, Aleksy said that having to buy the building was too big of a hurdle for the prospective buyers. By last month, he reluctantly decided to sell the building and close the bookstore.  

He held a special, invite-only sale for regular customers on May 18-19, which took care of much of his in-store inventory. Centuries & Sleuths will remain open until July 1 as Aleksy sells the remaining books, some in-store furniture and even some maps and other odds and ends that used to fill the store. Whatever books he doesn’t sell will get donated to the Oak Park Public Library. While Aleksy said he was disappointed that he wasn’t able to sell the store, he was grateful for all of the writers and customers who came through the doors. 

Centuries & Sleuths Bookstore originally opened in Oak Park in 1990. Aleksy previously told Chronicle Media that, at a time Borders and Barnes & Noble bookstore chains were on the rise, the last thing he wanted to do was to open a “generic” bookstore. He was already interested in history, and when he looked at what people were checking out at Oak Park Public Library, he noticed that history, along with mystery, were the two genres that were most checked out. 

Aleksy opened his store at 743 Garfield St., near the spot where Oak Park Avenue crossed the

A display of the Phryne Fisher Mystery series books on one of the largely emptied out bookshelves. (Photo by Igor Studenkov/for Chronicle Media)

Eisenhower Expressway. He said that it was a matter of simple economics — he simply couldn’t afford a space at any of the village’s major commercial corridors. Still, Aleksy hoped to turn the location to his advantage. 

“I anticipated that people would come here on the way back from work,” he said. “But most people were only interested in getting home from work.” 

In the late 1990s, Forest Park National Bank executives were looking to diversify the Madison Street corridor, which, at the time, was best known for bars. With their help, Aleksy bought the Madison Street building.  

Throughout its 34 years in business, Centuries & Sleuths regularly hosted author signings, book discussions and meetings of author organizations such as the Chicagoland chapter of Sisters in Crime, an advocacy and support organization for female crime and mystery writers. Aleksy said that at least some of the meetings will move to the Forest Park Public Library a few blocks away. 

Allison Baxter, Sisters in Crime Chicagoland’s secretary, said her organization was grateful to Aleksy for being “a champion for writers, especially crime fiction writers.” 

“We held, for many years, Sisters in Crime meetings in this space, and he was always welcoming, and he was always welcoming to our group, providing coffee, conversation and, most importantly, books,” she said. “We will really miss Augie and Centuries & Sleuths.” 

When he announced his retirement, Aleksy said that he had reached the point where the negatives, the paperwork and the long hours, were starting to outweigh the positives of running a bookstore. Aleksy said he wanted to sell the building and the business because he wasn’t interested in becoming a landlord. 

He said he got several serious offers. One even came in a few weeks ago — but, by that point, it was already too late.  

“The thing that really disappointed me was that no one was willing to come up to bat and buy the store,” Alekey said. 

He said that there is already a buyer. The contract is still being negotiated, but he doesn’t force any issue. 

A display recalling book signings that Centuries & Sleuths had over the decades. (Photo by Igor Studenkov/for Chronicle Media)

Aleksy didn’t have much optimism about the future of independent bookstores, saying that he was worried that, sooner or later, Amazon would put them all out of business. 

“[Once that happens], Amazon will determine what you can read, which is what sells, and what you pay for it,” he said. 

But there are hopeful signs for the independent bookstores in the Chicago area. Including some genre-focused ones. Love’s Sweet Arrow, a bookstore that specializes in romance novels, opened in Tinley Park in 2019 and survived the pandemic. The Understudy Coffee and Books, a bookstore focused on play scripts and other theater-related books, opened in Chicago’s Andersonville neighborhood, and another romance-focused bookstore, Last Chapter Bookshop, opened in Chicago’s Roscoe Village neighborhood. 

In February, Theresa Lewis opened The Pile Bookstore in Berwyn. At 7117 Roosevelt Road, it’s close enough to Forest Park that she already gets customers from the other village. 

Lewis told Chronicle Media that, while she was aware that Centuries & Sleuths was up for sale, she wanted to open a store in Berwyn specifically. Aleksy’s store, she said, “definitely had its own personality,” and she wanted to create something that was her own. 

“[Centuries & Sleuths] has been basically an institution in Forest Park,” Lewis said. “It was around for so long; it was an amazing bookstore and great gathering place for people.” 

Lewis added that she wished Aleksy and his wife, Tracy, a happy retirement.  

When asked if he had any advice for someone who wanted to open a bookstore today, Aleksy said that they should strike a fine balance between doing what interests them while also keeping financial realities in mind. After all, if he only sold what he liked, Centuries & Sleuths would only sell history books, and that wouldn’t get him very far. 

“You have to have financial knowledge — either that or have a partner or a friend that has skill, but it definitely has to be someone you can trust,” Aleksy added. “I’d recommend a business plan — what you want to do and how you can get there.” 

Aleksy got solemn as he recalled the many authors that had book signings, and the many customers that went through his doors.  

“When I promote authors, fortunately, I think I had a positive effect on quite a few people,” he said. “It’s really, such pride — it’s almost sinful.”