New Children’s Book Store Opens Saturday in Downtown Lemont

If the name Sommer Steele makes you think of a comic book superhero, you might not be wrong. She’s a wife, mother of three, and the owner of Mabel’s Market, a whimsical Lemont shop that sells the wares of Midwest makers as well as upcycled, and sometimes reinvented vintage furniture and accessories.

She’s living up to her superhero-like name again with the amazing feat she’s about to achieve – opening another small business in Lemont - a children’s bookstore - during a global pandemic.

Three Stories Books, at 310 Canal Street, will open for business with a “soft launch” this Saturday, April 3rd from 10 am to 4 pm, and for Steele, the journey has been one of hope, passion, and collaboration.

One of the things Steele says she loves about owning a small business is that it allows her to meet and work with many different people. When she heard through the grapevine that the building across the street from Mabel’s was going to be vacant, she asked the landlord if she could see it, thinking she could tell her customers about it in case someone was thinking of opening a business in Lemont.

“But instead, I went home and told my husband Jason that Lemont needed a bookstore for kids and we needed to open it. So I arranged for him to see the space and it just felt right to both of us. I was instantly passionate about it. I could envision how everything would look and where it would all go, and today it’s almost exactly how I imagined,” Steele says.

This is a family affair for the Steeles. The name for the store was inspired by the couple’s three children, who each have their own favorite story, as well as the fact that the store is located inside the only three-story building on the block. Additionally, the layout of the store will be separated into three main sections: picture books, board books, and “kid lit” or young adult, and the inventory will also be curated into three distinct categories.

“A third of our books will be bestsellers so kids can purchase the next book in a series they’re reading. Then we’ll dedicate another third to discovery, books you can’t find in big box stores but you can find them here and maybe fall in love. The last third will be local authors and illustrators from Lemont, Chicagoland, and the Midwest. And we’ll have gifts. Many of the vendors at Mabel’s had things they create for kids that weren’t a good fit for Mabel’s but will be a perfect fit for Three Stories,” says Steele.

Steele also says, “Even though it will be wildly different from Mabel’s Market, I hope it will evoke a similar response from the Lemont community, which has been extremely supportive. We get people who tell us our store is their happy place. We wanted to create a space like that in Lemont that kids could call their own, and where adults can find special things for the kids they love.”

Especially during the pandemic, when kids are using screens for both learning and entertainment, Steele says she believes books are essential, noting, “Books help kids to achieve balance in their lives and expose them to other ideas in a deeper way than screen time does.”

Eventually the Steeles hope to open their space up for events like story time and book signings, but they are still working on navigating how to do so in light of the pandemic.

“It’s going to be a building process. We are ready to open up and invite people to see the amazing space we’ve created and to explore our books and gifts, and we will build onto our offerings as we grow and learn together with our customers,” Steele says.

Masks are required when visiting Three Stories, and you can also find them online at https://www.facebook.com/threestoriesbooks