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Crazy Wisdom Bookstore & Tea Room

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Owners Ruth Schekter and Bill Zirinsky

About

Crazy 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. 

Store Information

Genre & Specialty

Holistic health, Psychology, Spirituality, Mindfulness, Love & Relationships, Sustainability

Address

114 S. Main St
Ann Arbor, MI 48104

Contact

734 - 665-2757
info@crazywisdom.net

Year Opened

1982

Website

​www.crazywisdom.net

Hours

Monday - Thursday 11-9
Friday 11-11
Saturday 10am-11pm

Sunday 12-8

Indie Interview

What 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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Get Involved!

Submit
Ann Arbor Book Society 
P.O. Box 7176
Ann Arbor, MI 48107
​info@a2books.org
  • A2 Books
    • Giving Tuesday
    • About
    • Board & Volunteers
    • In the Media
    • 2019 Reading Challenge
    • 2019 Reader Survey
    • Get Involved
  • BookTown Map
  • Events
  • Booksellers
    • Bookstores >
      • Bookbound
      • Crazy Wisdom
      • Dawn Treader
      • Literati
      • Motte & Bailey
      • Nicola's Books
      • Vault of Midnight
      • West Side Bookshop
    • Other Booksellers >
      • Nonprofit Booksellers >
        • Friends of the Ann Arbor District Library
        • Kiwanis Thrift Sale
        • PTO Thrift Shop
        • ReUse Center
      • Online Booksellers >
        • Aunt Agatha's
        • Kaleidoscope
  • Book News
    • Wahr's Bookstore
    • An Interview on Comics
    • Matthew Riemer Interview
    • Susan J. Douglas Interview
    • Doc Fletcher Interview
    • Newsletter Archives
    • Bookstore Road Trips >
      • Snowbound Books
      • Pages Bookshop
      • This is a Bookstore
      • Book Beat
      • Books and Mortar
    • Featured Ann Arbor Little Free Libraries >
      • Brookside Book House
      • Jewish Community Center
      • Maria Murphy
      • Scio Village Condo Community
      • Sekai Ward
  • Book Blog