Duluth's Chester Creek Books sold

Interior view of 1940s church sanctuary, now filled with bookshelves. Ceiling is wood-vaulted, and walls are white. — Chester Creek Books and Antiques occupies a former Seventh-day Adventist church in Duluth.

By Jay Gabler

December 26, 2024 at 4:00 PM

DULUTH — Chester Creek Books and Antiques is changing ownership on Jan. 1. Founder Mark Kilen is selling the business to Tina Higgins Wussow, a Duluth writer who has also been a longtime employee.

"It's a beautiful space, and I'm just happy to be a part of it," Wussow told the News Tribune. "I really want it to remain a used bookstore. I don't want it to get gutted and knocked down and turned into condos with a lake view."

Kilen will retain ownership of the 1333 E. Superior St. building that houses the bookstore, a former Seventh-day Adventist church dating to 1946. The bookstore has been open to the public in its present space since 2009, and Wussow has been an employee for just about that entire time.

Light-skinned man in his 80s sits in a chair in front of bookshelves and a wall calendar. Yellow-tinted windows allow light from behind him. — Mark Kilen, owner of Chester Creek Books and Antiques in Duluth, sits at the store's front desk in June 2024.

"I hail from the Cities originally. I moved here in 2008," said Wussow.

Formerly a staffer at St. Paul's Midway Book Store, Wussow had done business with Kilen, who previously operated Duluth's Old Town Antiques and Books. "He saw that I had some good books, and I knew what good books were, and he asked me if I wanted a part-time job."

Three shelves of antique hardcover books, displayed with spines out. — Volumes on display at Chester Creek Books in Duluth, as seen in June.

The ownership transition has been in the works for several years, said Wussow. "My biggest goal is that this just remains a treasure hunt used bookstore that the community can be a part of," she said.

Effective Jan. 1, the store will officially change its name from Chester Creek Books and Antiques to Chester Creek Bookstore. While antiques will remain part of the mix, said Wussow, she plans to focus more specifically on books. (Mark Kilen was traveling and not immediately available for comment.)

Tina Higgins Wussow is married to Jason Wussow, proprietor of Wussow's Concert Cafe in Spirit Valley. "Jason and I are excited to run spaces in Duluth that can really be community-based," said Tina.

The new bookstore owner sees an opportunity to raise the store's profile among locals.

"We get a ton of traffic from people from out of town, because they drive into Duluth and they Google 'bookstores,' and then they find us," Wussow explained. "People in Duluth just assume that they know what's here, and they're really missing out on this space because we don't get a lot of local traffic at all."

Wussow's plans include improving the store's signage and social media presence.

Worn wooden sign painted with the word "entrance" and arrow pointing right, seen outside a brick 1940s church building on a sunny summer day. — New owner Tina Higgins Wussow sees an opportunity in improving the visibility of Chester Creek Books, where the current signage, as seen in June, isn't particularly conspicuous.

"I would like it to be a destination for people who go to the Farmers Market just to walk another block down the road to come to the store," she said. "There will be things like children's book hour. There will be space upstairs in the loft for book clubs and poetry readings, and possibly some music in the future."

Come August, the new owner plans to launch an annual parking lot party. In the near term, the store plans a New Year's Day sale celebrating the ownership transition. After that, Wussow will be hunkering down through the winter to clean the store, increase accessibility and reorganize the store's inventory.

Light-skinned, brown-haired woman with eyeglasses stands in front of autumn-colored landscape wearing grey sweater and brown vest. — Tina Higgins Wussow, new owner of Chester Creek Books.

It's a bookworm's cozy winter dream: holing up in a former church as the snow falls, organizing 40,000 volumes.

"You have no idea how many people have offered to help for free," acknowledged Wussow with a laugh, "just to be in this building and just to hang out with all the treasures in here. The space is just so calming, and it's really a beautiful place. I'm so happy to be here all the time."

By Jay Gabler

Arts and entertainment reporter Jay Gabler joined the Duluth News Tribune in 2022. His previous experience includes eight years as a digital producer at The Current (Minnesota Public Radio), four years as theater critic at Minneapolis alt-weekly City Pages, and six years as arts editor at the Twin Cities Daily Planet. He's a co-founder of pop culture and creative writing blog The Tangential; he's also a member of the National Book Critics Circle and the Minnesota Film Critics Association. You can reach him at jgabler@duluthnews.com or 218-409-7529.