We were lucky to catch up with Diane Steverson recently and have shared our conversation below.

Diane, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Naming anything – including a business – is so hard. Right? What’s the story behind how you came up with the name of your brand?

When trying to decide what to name my bookstore I began by Googling every literary or reading type name that I could think of. One that I almost used, were it not for the copyright of the great Mr. Ray Bradbury, was “Stuff Your Eyes” in reference to a passage in Fahrenheit 451, “Stuff your eyes with wonder. Live as if you’d drop dead in ten seconds. See the world.”

I seriously considered this name for a long time but one of my daughters convinced me that a) it sounded somewhat violent, b) was very likely illegal, and c) in this case, books weren’t actually what Mr. Bradbury had been talking about.

I also briefly considered my son-in-law’s suggestion that I name the store “Bookstore Near Me” but I felt that I was not clever enough by half to pull that one off.

Then I read an article about a bookstore owner in Maine who named her store, “Two Moose and a Cat” or something like that. In the article, the owner relates how she came up with the name and points out that any name should be meaningful to you. And that’s when Abalabix Shabortnaball popped into my head.

When my oldest daughter was in fourth grade, a boy in her class asked their teacher if she wanted to hear his spy name. Well, seriously, who could say no to that? He responded “Abalabix Shabortnaball”. Later, at the dinner table, my daughter relayed the story of what this kid, Alex, said that day and we all practically rolled around on the floor laughing we loved the story so much.

When the girls got a bit older we used this name as a safety password when they were home alone and someone knocked on the door leading into the house from the garage. One of the girls would ask for the password and if the reply was not, “Abalabix Shabortnaball” then they would not unlock the door.

Even though my daughters are now 31 and 28 years old, the mere mention of “Abalabix Shabortnaball” always brings a smile to their faces. So even though “Abalabix” has no literary or reading-centered meaning behind it, it means something very dear to us and my hope is that it will mean something very dear to all our customers as well.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I opened Abalabix Books in October of 2021 because Crystal Lake, Illinois, and the surrounding areas, desperately needed a bookstore to fill the void created by the departure of Barnes & Noble. To me, a town without a bookstore is like a body without a soul.

But more than just being a local source for books, I created Abalabix Books to fill a void by becoming a haven for literary interaction and discussion. I was, and still am, striving to create a small, independent bookstore that exists to foster the love of reading in people through all the stages of their lives. A gathering place to talk, rest, relax, read, and learn that becomes a cornerstone of our community.

In service to that community, we are constantly reading. We track new releases. We read about books that will be featured on morning news shows, or turned into that next great feature film, or Netflix or Hulu series. We read about what’s hot, what’s controversial, what’s fun, and what’s the next book that will be incredibly hard to keep on the shelves.

And, on occasion, we become detectives and listen for clues in order to find that exact book you’ve been looking for; even if you just saw it on Good Morning America this morning but can’t remember the title. We will find it for you.

I strive to always keep my bookstore stocked with books that are carefully curated to the wants and needs of our community so that we can make recommendations based on each customer’s likes and dislikes. We love to put books into hands and watch the magic happen.

Beyond reading, Abalabix Books strives to be a “third place” where people can go and know that they belong. We know your names, we know if you’ve been ill recently, we know when your elderly parent passes away, when your husband has surgery, and we will always be there for you.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

From the very beginning, we’ve worked hard to foster a reputation for being open and honest with our customers in all aspects of the business. They know when we’ve done well and they also know when we screw up; and still they stand by us. Another part of our reputation is centered on how unique our bookstore is.

Three things happen when customers enter Abalabix Books:
1) they “ooh” and “aah” over George, the bookstore dog,
2) they say how nice the bookstore smells and,
3) they comment on the bright and colorful shelves, furniture, and walls.

That is why we like to say that we are the Midwest’s most fragrant, most colorful bookstore and the home of George, the original bow-tie-wearing lap dog.

Can you open up about how you funded your business?

To fund the initial start-up costs for the bookstore, I received a $125,000 Small Business Administration loan, which also required that I put up $60,000 of my own money, which I took from my personal retirement account.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://abalabixbooks.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/abalabixbooks21/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abalabixbooks21
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@AbalabixBooks