The store front of The Armadillo’s Pillow Bookstore by Onthegrid via Pinterest.

The small bell chimes from the top of the doorway as customers enter The Armadillo’s Pillow Bookstore. A round table stacked with novels is by the entrance. To the left, a sign advertises “groovy” stickers that are piled high. To the right, incense and crème colored book cards. In the little wall space books don’t fill, hand-crafted art, jewelry, records and dangling charms decorate the room. The man sitting behind the counter is barely seen, tucked in the corner surrounded by books. 

Traveling further into the store, books are stacked higher and higher in each alcove. The bustle of Sheridan Road fades, leaving only floods of literature, an orange velvet high back chair and a low hum of 70s music flowing from a tucked away speaker.

The Armadillo’s Pillow has been an oasis for the Rogers Park community for 27 years, located at 6753 N Sheridan Rd. Owners and partners Betsy Boemmel and Mark Ebert intricately crafted a bookstore that became a home away from home for all. 

When envisioning their bookstore, Boemmel and Ebert decided to build off the armadillo’s pillow in John Irving’s book, “A Prayer for Owen Meanie.” At the time, the couple’s friend group was obsessed with the novel. 

“In the book there’s this stuffed armadillo that’s like the prized possession of these friends,” Boemmel said. “And they give it back and forth to each other as a symbol of their friendship and reciprocity, and it’s just like, I will give you my most precious thing because I care that much.”

The couple knew they wanted their bookstore to mirror the pillow from the novel. They wanted to create a store to be shared with everyone – a store that emitted love and friendship.

Boemmel describes their store as a “revolving door” of people. She has seen students come and go, and then move back again. New people come in every week, and the bookstore welcomes them with open arms. 

“We’ve been a bookstore long enough that we’ve had some people who were babies when we met them, and they come back as adults,” Boemmel said. “That’s mind blowing and very satisfying.”

She even had people tell her they moved to Rogers Park to be close to The Armadillo’s Pillow. Although, Boemmel said she doubts these statements. 

“I think people like to fall in love with their neighborhood bookstores,” Boemmel said.

Savannah Ashford, 23, lives in Rogers Park and was always intrigued by The Armadillo’s Pillow.

“I’ve passed it a few times and I got off a stop later today so I could walk back because I thought it looked really cute,” Ashford said. 

She admits the vast collection of books didn’t interest her. Instead, she was on the hunt for collectible trinkets and art to make “fairy houses” for her friends. 

Photo of art and book shelves inside The Armadillo’s Pillow by Maia Luem.

But the store is not just a thrilling place for people to stumble upon, it’s also a personal treasure for Boemmel’s family. 

“My daughter grew up in the bookstore and always had birthday and holiday parties with her friends here. It’s given us great personal memories of just being able to have that for her, a playground for her and her friends,” Boemmel said. 

Her daughter, now 14, still spends time at the bookstore with her parents either helping run the counter or hauling books around. 

But 27 years of business has also resulted in hardships. 

“We’ve faced what it is to be a bookstore in a variety of atmospheres,” Boemmel said. 

There was a technological revolution of reading. After Amazon sold their first book online, e-commerce for books expanded as an industry. Boemmel and Ebert wondered if they would be able to keep up, but quickly learned there are still many book lovers who prefer the in-person experience. 

Soon after, Kindles and Nooks took off around the world. The Armadillo’s Pillow navigated through the struggles of running an exclusively print business in a new digital age. Though they were expecting worse, they found their business safe because some refuse to read electronically. 

Now, most their concerns are COVID-19 related. The pandemic presented Boemmel and Ebert with a mountain of problems. They closed doors for about three months. The store stayed alive through online ordering, which was established pre-coronavirus, and curbside-only appointments. 

“It was pretty brutal,” Boemmel said. “A lot of it was not knowing what the next thing is. That made business difficult.”

But COVID-19 also brought new discoveries to the bookstore. Boemmel noticed the revival of reading.

“I think because people are in their houses so much and everyone has changed their patterns of doing things that reading is a much more appealing activity for people, maybe more than before COVID,” Boemmel said.  

Post quarantine, the trips people take outside of their house are more meaningful. Because of this, Boemmel found people want to “hunt” for books again.

 “A lot of people come in and feel like it’s more of an activity than it is shopping,” Boemmel said. 

This was true for Delaney Carron, freshman at Loyola University Chicago. After finding The Armadillo’s Pillow, Carron spent about 30 minutes roaming around.

“I love coming into bookstores and just looking at the books,” Carron said. “I love all the little art. Everywhere you look there’s something new and fun and interesting.”

Her friend, Grace Bush, nodded in agreement. 

“It’s so cute in here. There’s a lot of interesting things,” Bush said. “Every once in a while, I like to look around for a book I might like.”

Boemmel admits the place is set up perfectly to devour people’s time.

“It feels like an ‘other’ kind of place,” Boemmel said. “It sort of unfolds, or whatever, it’s a weirdo place.”