New book store to open in Beloit

BELOIT — Mark Twain, perhaps the first great American writer, upon hearing reports in 1897 that he had died, told a news reporter in London “the report of my death was an exaggeration.”

That famous quote could be applied to the independent bookstore industry.

The independent book store business is bouncing back and that includes bouncing back to Beloit. In July, Jamie Anderson of Madison will open The Rogue Bookshop at 321 State St.

“I started really looking for a place to open a book store about a year ago,” Anderson said. “We have these younger generations who are not into buying from Amazon. They’re supporting local stores, and putting their money in meaningful places, and picking up books again to get away from the screen. It felt like a really good time to take advantage of that and bring an independent bookstore to an area that didn’t have one.”

Beloit has been without an independent bookstore since 2020 when Turtle Creek Books, a partnership between Beloit College and Barnes & Noble, closed at 444 E. Grand Ave. Ironically, the Beloit Daily News then moved into the space and rarely a month went by without someone stopping in to ask what happened to the book store.

That East Grand Avenue space is back on the market after the Daily News moved to a new location in April.

In 1995, there were more than 7,000 independent bookstores in the United States. Borders had more than 1,100 stores and Barnes & Noble was growing quickly. Then in July of that year, Amazon.com opened as an online bookseller. The rise of Amazon as well as e-book readers such as the Kindle changed the bookstore industry overnight.

By 2011, Borders, which peaked at 1,200 stores around the world, went bankrupt, dragging down Waldenbooks with it. By 2016, according to the American Booksellers Association, the number of independent book stores in the U.S. had dropped to about 1,200.

In 2024, the ABA estimated that the number of independent bookstores has more than doubled since 2016, with 2,433 bookstore companies operating in 2,844 locations. That number includes Inkwell Books & Threads in nearby Rockton, which was opened by Darrell and Tierra Polfiet at 106A W. Main St. in 2023.

Anderson, who was born in Edgerton, will not only be new to Beloit, she is still somewhat new to the bookselling industry. While her kids were growing, she was a legal assistant for the public defender’s office in Madison. When her kids approached high school age, she decided to go back to school, earning a degree in communications and media studies from the University of Wisconsin in 2022.

Anderson wanted to go into the publishing industry, “but my kids were still in school so getting a job at Penguin Random House in New York was not going to happen.” In 2024, she noticed a job advertisement for a part-time bookseller at Lake City Books in Madison.

“I thought it was going to just be a fun gig while I kept trying to figure out what to do,” Anderson said. A couple months after starting, the store owner got COVID and Anderson was running the store temporarily. “And I was like, ‘oh my gosh, I love this. This is what I want to do.’”

So Anderson began looking around for a city that would welcome a bookstore.

“I wasn’t originally looking at Beloit, but Beloit has this charm, so I reached out to some city officials and the Downtown Beloit Association,” Anderson said. “They gave me the name and number to the owner of this building ... and everything just worked out.”

The fact that the store will be located in the footprint of the Beloit Farmers’ Market definitely was a draw, Anderson said. The market routinely draws more than 1,000 people to downtown Beloit Saturdays from May to the end of October. But she spent enough time at Lake City Books and the other independent bookstores in Madison to know that having books for sale is only part of the equation.

“You have to make connections with the community and think outside the box,” said Anderson, who added she plans to move to Beloit after her 17-year-old graduates from Madison LaFollette. She said she plans on reaching out to Beloit College and local schools to build partnerships.

“I want it to be more than a retail store. I want it to be a place where we can have events and build a sense of community,” Anderson said. “There are a lot of authors who live in Chicago who are willing to travel, and Beloit’s on the way to places like Madison and Milwaukee and Minneapolis. I’m excited to start being able to reach out.”

Anderson has planned a pre-opening party for Thursday, July 10 from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. with the grand opening slated for Saturday, July 12.