Semicolon bookstore is closing due to ‘decisions that were not financially sound,’ owner says

The Black woman-owned Chicago bookstore Semicolon is closing its doors after five years of operations. Owner Danielle Moore announced through Instagram today that the closure is a result of the store being unsustainable. 

“The holidays did not do what we wanted them to do and based on the amount of community work that we like to pour into the city and into the world in general, we are not sustainable as we should be,” Moore said in the video posted on the social site while sitting at the location on Michigan Avenue.

The Magnificent Mile location will close on Jan. 4, while the West Town location will remain open through Independent Bookstore Day, a one-day national event that lands on April 27 this year.

Moore told The TRiiBE that the decision to close was “the hardest thing” she has done in her life, “I expected Semicolon to exist beyond me, beyond my lifespan, and felt like I built it accordingly,” she said.

Moore said she made the choice due to “decisions that were not as financially sound” as she thought they would be. 

“That includes moving into the Mag Mile space. Although the Magnificent Mile Association covered our rent, we had to pay the initial cost, close to $150,000, of getting shelves, getting books, hiring an entire team for this space. And so that took our normal operations cost out of control,” Moore said.

Moore added that the Mag Mile space did not perform well financially due to the bookstore being inside the Wrigley Building, and the idea that “tourists aren’t trying to buy and carry books around.” She called the endeavor a “six-figure L [loss].” 

Moore opened up about having her car stolen back in September. Her checkbook from the business was in the car and the bank account was soon hacked.

“We’re only making about 30% of what it costs to exist in the shop and manage payroll while our accounts are getting consistently hacked,” Moore said. “The bank said it could take up to a year to get those funds back while the situation gets investigated.” 

Moore said she decided to stop operations to protect her staff from further harm financially. She expects to host the store’s last Lit Fest at the West Town location during International Bookstore Day as a final celebration of Semicolon.

“We’re going to close out with a bang and close out with our last Lit Fest. We’re getting in touch with authors and publishers now to pull it together and make this our biggest bang yet,” she said.

Moore launched Semicolon in 2019 in River West “as a safe space for readers who enjoy stories by and about minority authors,” according to its website. The bookstore, which also operates as a non-profit organization, expanded its community outreach with its #ClearTheShelves program that gifted free books to Chicago Public Schools students every quarter with a mission of closing literacy gaps in marginalized communities.

Moore added the final Lit Fest will also be a #ClearTheShelves Day, “so that everything we stand for leaves with us,” she said.

The bookstore experienced several moves in its five years: from the original River West location to Wicker Park to its current location in West Town, the latter which operated alongside the Michigan Avenue location.

In summer 2024, Semicolon opened its downtown location on the Magnificent Mile in the Wrigley Building through a partnership with the Magnificent Mile Association. In August, The TRiiBE joined other Black-owned publications at the Michigan Avenue location for a discussion on the importance and relevance of Black, transformative media. The event took place during the week of the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) Conference.

Moore extended her appreciation to the book-selling community, which she says has been very supportive after today’s announcement and that three booksellers have reached out to her team members to employ them.

“I’m grateful booksellers have reached out to try to help my team and put them on their team,” Moore said. “I am grossly appreciative of the book-selling community that even cares enough to be like I know that your first thought is your team, so let me try to help your team.”