In 1879 William Wallace Wickel bought a 3-year old Naperville pharmacy and named it Wickel’s Drugstore. Wickel sold the business to his son-in-law Louis Oswald in 1915, who renamed it Oswald’s Pharmacy. In 1952, Oswald sold the store to his son-in-law Harold Kester. In 1964, Kester opened a small paperback bookstore on the second floor, calling it Paperback Paradise. When he added hardcover books, he changed the name to Paradise Bookshop. About eight years later, Kester moved the book business to a ground-level storefront about a block west of the Pharmacy.

Kester sold the pharmacy and bookshop to his son-in-law, Robert Anderson, in 1977. The bookshop was then renamed Anderson’s Bookshop. In 1980 the Downers Grove bookstore was opened. In 1988 the Anderson’s Bookshop in Naperville moved from 115 W. Jefferson to their current location at 123 W. Jefferson. The store later expanded and took over 119 W. Jefferson. Adding an additional 3,000 square feet to the store. In 1990 the Anderson’s Bookshop in Elmhurst opened.

Robert Anderson sold the bookshops and the Pharmacy to his children Robert (Tres) Anderson, Bill Anderson, Becky Anderson Wilkins and Pete Anderson in 1996.