Crazy Wisdom Bookstore & Tea Room
Owners Ruth Schekter and Bill Zirinsky
AboutCrazy Wisdom, owned by Bill Zirinsky and Ruth Schekter, is housed in a historic Main Street building complete with a tea room on the second floor. It is a notable “body/mind/spirit” bookshop of the U.S., with a deep and wide-ranging selection of books in its areas of specialization. The store is a very busy place, hosting monthly storytelling nights, a monthly Poetry Series, workshops and classes which take place daily in its Community Room, regular book-signings and book talks, Fairy Teas for children, and other special events.
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Store Information
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Indie InterviewWhat inspired you to open a bookstore?
We purchased the bookstore in 1989 from a woman who had a strong interest in Buddhism, women’s spirituality, and the divination arts. We’ve slowly expanded it in a very substantial way over the last 27 years, and added a Tearoom, a Community Room rented for local classes and workshops, and the region’s leading magazine for conscious living. How do you think being a specialized bookstore has helped your business over the years? We’ve developed a regional consumer base that knows that we are unique, and committed to having a depth of inventory in our areas of specialization. What has been your favorite part of owning and/or working in a bookstore? Hiring a staff of people who have an interest in serving people in the region who are searching in their lives – psychologically, spiritually, and in terms of holistic health and sustainability. What has been your greatest challenge running a bookstore? Staff turnover in our Tearoom. Food Service is a much different enterprise than a bookstore, and we’ve been regularly challenged by too much staff turnover. What role do you think books and bookstores play in the culture of Ann Arbor? They are a vital part of the identity of Ann Arbor. We live in a place that is proud of having birthed the Borders chain, and proud of having traditionally had more bookstores per capita than any other place in the country. This is a highly intellectual and progressive small city, and people here love books, love reading, love the interchange of ideas, love the written word. |
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