Oak Park Newspaper

The Barbara's chain of stores will continue just fine under the ownership of a 72 year old Mr. Don Barliant. Barliant lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico and owns a number of stores around the country.

Anthony Shaker, the owner of the property that Barbara's rents from owns a number of buildings in Oak Park and Barbara's is the only problem renter, all other renters pay on time and without trouble. Barbara's Bookstore is not only causing trouble for Mr. Shaker, but was also trouble for the
previous owner of the building. There are dozens of renters from Mr. Shaker and only Barbara's bookstore is this much of an issue. In 2003, before Anthony Shaker bought the building housing Barbara's bookstore there was an issue with $100,000.00 owed to the previous owner which went to court. When Barbara's bookstore entered into a rental agreement with Shaker it was meant to mean as it was signed. Allegations of too much rent and other items were not upheld by court rulings. It is expected this time that Barbara's bookstore will end up owing in excess of $100,000.00. I wonder how that might impact their credit score?

Anthony Shaker is not a fan of the TIF district and its extra taxes on the businesses in the area. There are many residents who are also upset with the TIF and its doings in downtown Oak Park. The High School District 200 has sued the Village to recover funds owed to it and Anthony Shaker has sued the Village over taxes he felt should not have been collected, a suit that has cost Oak Park taxpayers dearly. The Village will pay some $16,000 to Mr. Shaker for his legal fees and another $130,000 to the Village's additional lawyers. Those funds could have gone to the schools or any number of philanthropic causes.

Kroch's and Brentano's was in Oak Park for years right where the Lake theater expanded into. Kroch's and Brentano's lost their market share to stores like Crown Books, who sold at discounts. Everyone sells at discounts now and also has full
service, the ability to order specific books. Barbara's bookstore looks like history to be, since it will leave their current location in June or perhaps sooner.