MarketBeat.com’s recent poll of more than 3,000 people questioned about locally-owned businesses resulted in Anderson’s, located at 123 W. Jefferson Ave., being among the state’s best.
“It’s a neighborhood institution where generations of kids met their favorite authors. You walk in for one title, leave with five, and maybe a signed copy,” MarketBeat.com said in a news release.
Nationwide, Anderson’s Bookshop ranks 85 out of 220 of the country’s most beloved businesses as part of the recent poll, the website said. Among the types of businesses on the list, “bookstores quietly crush it,” the website said, adding that “community and curiosity still go hand-in-hand.”
Barbecue joints and pancake restaurants also are among the nation’s favorite independent businesses, the website said.
Other Illinois companies making the cut were Prairie Fruits Farm and Creamery in Champaign, Margie’s Candies in Chicago and Busy Corner Restaurant in Goodfield.
“Many of these businesses have survived changing tastes, rising rents and the convenience of two-day shipping. Why? Because they offer something irreplaceable: heart,” Matt Paulson, founder of MarketBeat.com, said in a statement. “You don’t go to these places just to shop — you go to feel like you belong.”
Anderson’s Bookshop dates back to 1875 when it opened as part of the W.W. Wickel Pharmacy, later known as Oswald’s Pharmacy, and generations have owned and run the two businesses since.
It has won numerous awards, including the Lucille Pannell Award for being the best bookseller of children’s books in the nation, the Illinois Family Business of the Year by Loyola University Family Business Center, and the Retail Business of the Year and Small Business of the Year by the Naperville Chamber of Commerce.
