Foxes & Fireflies begins to take shape as tables and bookshelves are set up in the space on Tower Avenue in Superior. (Photo via Foxes & Fireflies Facebook page)

A new independent bookstore will soon be part of a business incubation facility in Superior.

Foxes & Fireflies will be Superior’s only bookstore carrying an inventory of new books. The city does not have a chain bookstore and hasn’t had a notable outlet for new books since the locally owned JW Beecroft store closed in 2007.

The new bookstore will be located in the Superior Entrepreneurship Center at 1401 Tower Ave. The center opened two years ago in the city’s Historic Old Post Office. The building is one of three Superior Business Centers, which serve as business incubator spaces. The centers are managed by the Development Association, a nonprofit that strives to connect Superior-area entrepreneurs to resources, financing and information.

Maria Lockwood, a longtime reporter at The Superior Telegram and an avid reader and library lover, is the owner of the business. She is supported by her husband David Lockwood, and Eilonwy and Jacklyn Lockwood, her daughters. Her family is excited to watch Maria fulfill this dream.

“This has been something that has been waiting to happen for years at this point, and her passion for it is really admirable,” Eilonwy said of her mother, Maria. “We’re kind of just here to help her to get her vision out to the world. We’re moving around bookshelves for her and helping figure out the placement of everything, but this is just her idea.”

“She’s the fire behind all of it,” Jacklyn said.

Since the closing of JW Beecroft, Maria has been dissatisfied with the total lack of independent bookstores in Superior. “I mean, Walmart has an aisle,” she said. Duluth has two independent bookstores — Zenith Bookstore and the Bookstore at Fitger’s — and a Barnes & Noble chain store at Miller Hill Mall.

Maria Lockwood has been ordering books for the shop by consulting best seller lists, but hopes to tailor the selection to what community members want. (Photo via Foxes & Fireflies Facebook page)

“Superior needs a bookstore. And I’ve been waiting 17 years for one,” she said. Many Superiorites feel the same way. When the Lockwoods mention the bookstore to others they often receive interest and excitement.

“People are almost rabid for it,” said Jacklyn.

Maria hasn’t only received support from local readers, she’s also been encouraged by surrounding independent bookstores. As part of the journey to create Foxes & Fireflies, she toured independent bookstores, like Zenith Bookstore in West Duluth, and talked to owners and employees.

“We took that tour of all the shops, and that night, I was like, ‘This has to happen. These independent bookstores are so supportive of me,’ that’s when I said I’m going to sign up my LLC.”

In late May Maria put up a Kiva loan to begin raising money for the project. A Kiva loan is a way of crowdfunding. It starts with private fundraising and, if enough people back that phase of the process, the loan goes public for additional funding.

First, Foxes & Fireflies needed 15 private lenders to contribute $25 in 15 days, and reached its goal in under 36 hours. Then the Kiva loan went public, and Foxes & Fireflies had 35 days to hit its total goal of $8,500. The loan was fully funded in a week.

When she got the Kiva loan, Maria was “horrified, terrified,” because she felt there was no turning back.

“When people believe in you and say ‘here do it,’ you kind of have to do it,” she said. “I just hope that it’s enough for everybody.”

Maria Lockwood photo via Foxes & Fireflies website.

Maria feels pressure to deliver a space to the Superior community that people will enjoy using.

“It’s here and it’s for the community,” she said. “It’s not my bookstore, it’s Superior’s bookstore. And I really want Superior to own that. And they can only do that if they come and tell me what they want and they support us.”

Foxes & Fireflies is intended to be a “third space,” a place that is not the home or workplace, for Superior community members.

“I want kids to come after school to do their homework, or to start an art club, or come have their own book club, maybe a knitting group wants to come, get out of the house and be someplace,” said Maria.

“It’s very library vibes, and I’m okay with that, because I think a library is the best place in the world other than a bookstore.”

“Because I don’t do bars. And where else do you go to socialize? It’s not a bar, it’s just a place to hang. A library where you can talk.”

Because Maria plans to continue reporting at the Telegram, Foxes & Fireflies will only be open on weekends. But should the business receive attention and support, those hours may change.

A firm opening date has yet to be announced, but Maria is already pulling a reading community together by hosting silent book clubs in local parks. The group begins with members introducing themselves and the books they are reading, then the group reads in silence for an hour and a half.

Readers interested in supporting Foxes & Fireflies can attend the silent book club on Thursday evenings, visit the Foxes & Fireflies Facebook page and shop online at bookshop.org.