Quimby’s Bookstore Forges New Path: Quimby’s Ink Launches In-House Print and Design Services to Champion Chicago’s DIY Artistry

In a decisive move solidifying its foundational commitment to independent creative production, Quimby’s Bookstore, a Chicago cultural pillar since its inception in 1991, has officially launched Quimby’s Ink, a full-service in-house print and design operation. As reported in mid-December 2025 by Block Club Chicago and other industry observers, this new venture is strategically positioned not as a mere ancillary business, but as a critical infrastructural extension of the bookstore’s nearly thirty-five-year mission to champion alternative and countercultural publishing. This expansion, spearheaded by the bookstore’s new ownership team which took the helm in Spring 2025, marks a tangible evolution from curator to active producer within Chicago’s vibrant, yet often resource-strained, independent arts ecosystem.

Strategic Integration within the Bookstore Ecosystem

The inauguration of Quimby’s Ink represents a sophisticated alignment of production capabilities with retail opportunity, establishing a self-sustaining loop designed to nurture emerging and established independent creators. This is not simply a commercial add-on but a deliberate architectural choice to reinforce the physical artifact—the zine, the small-press book, the artist-made comic—in an increasingly digital landscape.

Harmonizing Production with Consignment and Retail Presence

A cornerstone of the Quimby’s Ink strategy is the immediate, built-in pathway from the printing press to the retail shelf. Creators who utilize the new design and printing services gain instant access to Quimby’s established and highly engaged customer base. The newly printed materials—whether zines, limited-edition books, or specialized art prints—can be seamlessly integrated into the bookstore’s well-regarded consignment program shortly after production. This integration is a powerful logistical and cultural advantage, offering artists visibility to a clientele already conditioned to seek out and purchase the unconventional, the subversive, and the small-press.

This symbiotic structure effectively closes the entire cycle of independent publishing within one supportive framework: the initial concept is nurtured through expert design and production consultation, the physical object is realized using specialized techniques like in-house risograph and letterpress, and the final product immediately enters the retail stream. This single-point ecosystem dramatically lowers the friction point between creation and consumption for Chicago’s DIY artists.

Reinvestment Strategy Focused on Future Publishing Imprint Aspirations

Looking beyond immediate operational success, Quimby’s Ink is cast as the financial and experiential foundation for an even more ambitious future endeavor. The new leadership has publicly stated the intention to systematically reinvest the proceeds generated by the print services toward the eventual establishment of a formal Quimby’s publishing imprint.

This long-term vision transforms the service from a supportive tool into a seed-funding mechanism. Should this imprint materialize in the coming years, it will allow Quimby’s to move from facilitating others’ work to actively curating, commissioning, and disseminating a specific body of work that fully aligns with the store’s ethos of championing the “unusual, the aberrant, the saucy and the lowbrow”. The initial focus on short-run, custom projects, specifically targeting quantities between 5 and 500 copies, is perfectly calibrated to develop a pipeline of talent and content suitable for a future imprint.

The Personnel Driving This Creative Expansion

The technical demands of integrating high-level print services—especially letterpress and risograph—into a retail environment necessitate leadership with deep, specialized industry experience. Quimby’s Ink is managed not by general retail staff, but by veterans whose professional histories are intrinsically linked to the independent press scene, lending immediate technical credibility and profound aesthetic acumen to the operation.

The Curatorial and Design Experience of the Leadership Team

The technical oversight for Quimby’s Ink is vested in a leadership team whose professional backgrounds provide an exceptional blend of academic rigor, practical press operation, and established independent publishing history. This combination is a significant differentiator in the local production market.

• Peter Miles Bergman: As a co-owner of the bookstore, Bergman brings established expertise from running his own publishing imprint, is PRESS, for over thirteen years. His background includes commercial printing pre-press work and a seventeen-year tenure as a professor of Art and Graphic Design, focusing on editorial design, typography, and print production at Metropolitan State University of Denver. Bergman’s prior consignment of his own zines at Quimby’s provides him with an intimate understanding of the store’s clientele and inventory needs.
• Eric Manny Von Haynes: Serving as an affiliate owner and a key leader, Von Haynes commands over fifteen years of experience leading Flatlands Press. He is recognized for innovative design and community-focused projects, holding positions such as President of the Chicago Printers Guild and teaching Graphic Design at UIC and print techniques at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

This dual leadership effectively marries Bergman’s academic, production, and imprint experience with Von Haynes’s community advocacy, design innovation, and deep roots in Chicago’s print guilds.

Leveraging Backgrounds in Independent Presses for Client Success

The operational philosophy of Quimby’s Ink centers on mentorship rather than mere order fulfillment. The leadership team is uniquely positioned to act as “sage guides” for the creator—be it an artist, poet, or photographer—navigating the historically opaque and often intimidating world of print manufacturing.

Their collective history allows them to offer sophisticated, value-added consultation that goes far beyond the standard print shop checklist. This includes expert guidance on:

• Strategic paper selection to maximize tactile and visual impact within project budgets.
• Recommending the most effective print methods—be it letterpress for texture, risograph for vibrant color runs, or digital laser for quick proofs—to achieve a specific artistic goal.
• Navigating complex production timelines for both short-run zines (5-500 copies) and larger monograph projects.

As one source notes, Quimby’s Ink is specifically targeting the creator who seeks an expert partner to realize a specific project goal, explicitly positioning themselves as the choice for high-touch guidance over the service prioritizing the lowest cost for the already experienced production artist. Furthermore, the service offers a 1-hour education option for DIY empowerment, priced comparably to a standard setup charge, allowing clients to learn the process as they create.

The Broader Cultural Significance for Chicago’s Independent Arts Scene

The establishment of Quimby’s Ink echoes far beyond the immediate commercial transaction of printing services; it signals a profound structural commitment from one of the city’s most important cultural institutions to the ongoing health and physical continuity of independent artistic expression in Chicago.

Reinforcing the City’s Identity as a Hub for Counterculture Publishing

Chicago has long maintained a reputation as a fertile ground for alternative culture, with Quimby’s Bookstore frequently cited by cultural critics as a “treasure” and an “unofficial clubhouse for zine lovers”. By integrating a high-level, in-house production resource, the bookstore is actively fortifying this identity. It provides the necessary physical infrastructure to ensure that the city remains a vibrant, generative source for new, often challenging, countercultural content.

In the current cultural climate of 2025, where digital distribution is ubiquitous, Quimby’s Ink serves as a vital anchor for tangible media. The service directly aids in keeping the physical artifact—the zine, the object born from a tangible process—vibrant and accessible, countering the ephemeral nature of purely digital dissemination.

A New Resource Aligned with the Store’s Historical Ethos

Ultimately, the entire Quimby’s Ink endeavor is the most magnificent extension of the store’s nearly three-decade-long mission to stock and champion work that favors the unusual and the non-mainstream. In the past, this mission manifested in curation—stocking the finished goods. Now, it manifests in direct participation in the making of those goods.

This deepens the store’s role from a passive cultural gatekeeper to an essential creative partner. It ensures that the next generation of artists and writers who gravitate toward themes of feminism, punk aesthetics, political resistance, and anarchy have the necessary tools—both technical production knowledge and philosophical alignment—to disseminate their urgent messages in a printed, durable form. The launch of Quimby’s Ink, which followed the change in ownership earlier in 2025, guarantees that the legacy of tangible, independent storytelling within Chicago continues to thrive and evolve deep into the mid-twenty-twenty-five period and beyond.