After a decade of thinking about owning a bookstore and two years of planning, Elizabeth Foster finally showed Inkwell Booksellers Company to the public.
Inkwell Booksellers Company, a bookstore and coffee shop, opened in Northeast Minneapolis this past weekend. The grand opening Feb. 22 and 23 included Girl Scout Cookies, an Alchemy Permanent Jewelry pop-up, giveaways and a couple of author talks.
Foster envisioned a space where people could find community amongst a great passion of hers — books. She hopes people use the large seating areas for book clubs and meetings.
“We want people to feel welcome,” Foster said. “We want to have those interactions with people on a daily basis and not just be someplace that you walk in and out of.”
Lucy Cohen, 24, picked up some Girl Scout Cookies earlier in the day on Saturday. She left, ran into her friend Angelina Gallego, 27, and brought her back to Inkwell to show her the new bookstore. Cohen and Gallego are happy to have a bookstore nearby where they live in Northeast.
“It eliminates barriers from someone being like, ‘Oh, but it’s just easier and quicker to get it on Amazon,’” Cohen said.
Gallego appreciates Inkwell as a new, accessible third space in her neighborhood. Neither Cohen nor Gallego has their license. To Gallego, walkability is important, and she wishes she had Inkwell when she was a graduate student at the University of Minnesota.
Foster also chose the location in Northeast because it is a walkable neighborhood. Foster said there are a lot of small shops, grocery stores, restaurants, great bike lanes and lots of foot traffic, but no bookstore.
“It would have been nice to have this as a study spot, a space to chill and drink coffee or tea and chat with a friend,” Gallego said.
It was crucial to have a coffee shop inside Inkwell for Foster. She said not enough bookstores have a coffee shop with larger seating areas, and it really enhances the experience a bookstore has to offer.
Caleb Peterson, 29, likes the wide variety of books Inkwell offers. Peterson also sees the potential for Inkwell to be a popular spot.
“You can do book clubs over here, over there,” Peterson said. “I think it’s a really good spot for it, especially for a book-reading community.”
The grand opening on Saturday was crowded. People of all ages were sipping out of ceramic mugs and browsing for books. Large groups of people were slouched on the couches and conversing. Foster herself was taking coffee orders and checking people with books out.
At around 5 p.m., a bartender started pouring complimentary cups of champagne and rosé along with platters of macarons to commemorate the first day of the grand opening. At the same time, local author Allan Evans sat down to discuss his crime thriller novels.
Customers came in and told Foster how beautiful it was inside.
One of Foster’s favorite things about the space is the tall windows. Foster said the light, the artwork and the smells of books and coffee encourage a better mood in people.
“It’s been hard to get the words to explain what things would look and feel like,” Foster said. “Being able to show everyone the physical space and having experienced what I have had in my brain for so long is really exciting.”
Foster stressed wanting Inkwell to be a safe space for people. Foster said her staff is quirky and welcoming, which she hopes helps people be their truest selves in the space.
Inkwell carries every book from fiction to nonfiction, children’s books to adult books and books across the political spectrum. Nonetheless, there are limits to what Inkwell sells.
“We are not carrying books that promote hate speech or that are targeting individual groups of people,” Foster said.
Inkwell is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. every day except Sunday. On Sunday, Inkwell is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
