Crazy Wisdom Returns
How the iconic bookstore has changed and what keeps the founders going
—By Katie Moore
Step into Crazy Wisdom Bookstore and Celestial Lounge and instantly, you’re greeted with the smell of sweet incense and low, acoustic music echoing between the wooden walls. Despite its unassuming storefront, books stretch far back into the first floor, ranging from thick tomes on Eastern medicine to cheerfully colored birding guides. Nestled in between the shelves are display tables of knick-knacks and jewelry seen in countless Ann Arbor houses: chunky gemstone earrings, small hand-painted dishes, and golden Buddha figurines. Wind chimes hang from the ceiling, and when the door is open (as it often is during the warmer months), a strong gust makes them tinkle invitingly. Just behind them is a padded staircase, snaking up to the lounge. Cozy, eclectic, and bright, Crazy Wisdom is sheer Ann Arbor.
From sad news to a second form: how Crazy Wisdom reopened
Coming into the store, you could hardly guess its recent troubles. The Main Street staple was opened in 1982 by husband and wife duo Bill Zirinsky and Ruth Schekter in order to sell books related to consciousness, holistic healing, global spiritual practices, Eastern medicine, and connecting with the natural world. A quick glance at their monthly journal reveals the alternative community they cater to: an upcoming cacao sound bath at the bookstore, an advertisement for Reiki healers, a holistic resource guide, and a recipe for roasted root vegetable soup. However, they faced a plethora of pandemic-related challenges and shuttered its windows in 2021 to the sorrow of many in the area. In a thrilling turn of events, in November of last year, they decided to reopen the store in a different form. The Crazy Wisdom of today sings a slightly different tune, focused more on community and connection than ever before.
The bookstore’s comeback wasn’t inevitable, though. Zirinsky and Schekter originally planned on selling to another owner. However, when they spoke to prospective buyers—twenty-one, to be precise—none were the right fit. “I was, perhaps you could say, quite finicky about who I was willing to hand the store over to,” Zirinsky admits with a laugh when discussing the reopening process. Feeling uninspired, Zirinsky and Schekter turned to their previous store manager to brainstorm how they could reinvent Crazy Wisdom to become more manageable, choosing to open the iconic business again on their own.
What changed?
Once they chose to reopen Crazy Wisdom, the duo and their team set to work. The most obvious of the changes is the upstairs. Originally a cozy room selling a variety of unique teas and worn but plush tables and chairs scattered around the area, Crazy Wisdom shut down their food services even before closing. “We were finished with owning a food business,” notes Zirinsky. “As you get older, you have to pick and choose where you spend your time.”
Instead, the founders decided to focus the space on community-building. They’d always had events upstairs, such as live music on Friday and Saturday evenings, but the former tea room has been transformed into the Celestial Lounge, now “completely refurbished and redecorated,” per Zirinsky. Without the books that used to hover in the middle of the second floor, the space is more open and far larger, now with art by local artists framed neatly on the walls. Though Zirinsky thinks the lounge is “just getting going,” the community calendar is replete with experiences; a light day includes six events, while a busy one might be as many as fifteen, with anything from drum circles to tarot readings to fine arts fairs to poetry nights to book discussions.
The events have garnered significant appreciation from the community. “I love the new space,” notes Leonor Brockey (LSA ‘25). “I’ve been to a couple poetry readings, and it allows more people to come together, which has been really nice.”
There have been other, smaller changes to the business, too. Though the subject matter of the books are largely the same, Zirinsky says that the selection is now “leaner, thinned down.” With fewer books, Crazy Wisdom’s layout is now more open, allowing more Ann Arborites to amble through the store.
Bookstores in crisis
Crazy Wisdom’s reopening is a rarity. Across Ann Arbor, the Covid-19 pandemic, combined with a waning interest in physical bookstores, has led to severe stress in local bookstores, even in a town known for its college and literary milieu. In 2020, Literati published a fundraiser to keep their business running, citing a need for “immediate support” so as not to close amid lockdown restrictions. Several years prior, Nicola Rooney sold her eponymous bookstore, Nicola’s Books, to buyers looking to expand their own business, transforming the Westgate shop into Schuler’s, part of a small Michigan-based independent chain. On campus, Ulrich’s Books closed after eighty-eight years of serving students.
As such, when Crazy Wisdom announced its own closure, it was saddening but not necessarily surprising news. What wowed community members was its revival. In an age where everything is increasingly online, Crazy Wisdom stubbornly stays in person, and the nonstop rotation of events upstairs is only the beginning. Many of the books in their selection deal with the importance of physical connection or offer advice on how to limit the constant pull of a screen. Even the website, though well-designed and easily navigable, is simple and straightforward, free from a constant array of flickering ads, silent videos, or pulsing images. Come into the store, the website seems to say. We have so much more to offer you there. Bringing people together is, on all sides, a priority for the bookstore.
Crazy Wisdom’s north star: Ann Arbor
Indeed, the community members themselves were—and are—key to the new form of Crazy Wisdom. “I’ve tried to elicit all kinds of feedback but mostly people have acknowledged that they’re glad to have it back,” says Zirinsky on how the reopening has been received. “The feedback that I’ve gotten has been very appreciative that we’ve re-opened. A lot of people in the region were very attached to the store…. There’s not a lot of bookstores that are focused on consciousness in the US”
“Crazy Wisdom has been one of my favorite spots I’ve discovered in Ann Arbor,” adds Brockey. “It’s my go-to spot to grab a birthday gift for a friend… going there is super relaxing.”
Though turning a profit has been a requirement for the store (and all businesses), it’s been the circle of friends of the store, old and new, that has powered Crazy Wisdom’s life all these years. “I wouldn’t say I’m a regular, but talking to everyone who frequents and works in the store is always such a nice experience,” says Brockey. “It’s one of the reasons I keep coming back.”
On the ownership side, Zirinsky’s voice glows when he talks about who he gets to feature in the Crazy Wisdom Community Journal, and eagerly takes any opportunity he can to mention an old friend or regular buyer. “It was serving the community that fed me and the staff all these years,” he summarizes. “I’ve had so many people come up to me over the years, so many regulars who treasure this store. Our events and this space allow people to really come together and build community.” To Zirinsky, the relationship between Crazy Wisdom and Ann Arbor is more than store-to-customer; it’s symbiotic.
What’s next for the store?
So, nearly one year post-reopening, only one question remains: what does the future of Crazy Wisdom look like? Zirinsky says that, frankly, he’s not entirely sure himself. “Let’s see how this evolves season by season,” he suggests. To him and his wife, their biggest goals for Crazy Wisdom have changed since they began over forty years ago. Rather than worrying about how to open a business and keep it relevant, the duo are focusing on how running the store feels as they do it. If they still enjoy running it, they’ll keep running it; if they feel they’d prefer to see someone younger take over, that’s what they’ll do and move on to what else they want to do at this stage of their life.
Beyond their own emotions, Zirinsky thinks about whether Crazy Wisdom is “still fulfilling an important niche in the community,” and how it benefits their beloved town. As of right now, none of the bookstores in the area—from Literati to Dawn Treader—have the unique selection or events that Crazy Wisdom does. The Main Street store has attracted a small but dedicated crowd over the years, making it indispensable.
“I’m not native to Ann Arbor, but it’s hard to imagine the city without Crazy Wisdom,” Leonor Brockey says. “It sort of encapsulates everything I like about living here; it’s a little out of the ordinary but so inviting. Just being able to come in at almost any time and connect with or see people there for an event or just looking around is so wonderful… I’m really glad it’s back.”
In short, Crazy Wisdom’s reopening is, as Zirinsky puts it, “not for the business, but for the community and what it means for me.” For him, Crazy Wisdom is about prioritizing people above all else; about making that first whiff of sweet incense smell just like home.
Feature photo, Crazy Wisdom; Photo Credit, Katie Moore