BOOKSTORE SHORT! Northwind Books at Finlandia University

As our authors get to know the different bookstores around the country, we are struck by their uniqueness. We thought you'd like to get to know them along with us. Marketing strategist & writer Elisabeth Veltman interviews owners and managers at these unique havens of literature.

Let's chat with store manager, Alana Nolan

North Wind Books is located in Hancock, Michigan, just a few minutes from Lake Superior. Not only is it in the Great White North, North Wind is also an independent bookstore owned by Finlandia University. Finlandia was founded 1896 by the Fins (yes, people from Finland) and is a 4-year liberal arts university that offers courses and degrees in Arts & Sciences, Health Sciences, Art & Design, and Business. The Fins may have started it, but the University welcomes all backgrounds to its academic world set in an outdoor-lover heaven.

I spoke with Alana Nolan, the Bookstore Manager and asked her what made North Wind Books special. She said that they have an array of different things from textbooks to university apparel to an independent section where books with a connection to Michigan are featured. This section contains local history and local authors, as well as books about birds, insects, or rocks that are indigenous to the area. Likewise, they have a children’s room and a Scandinavian room. As she spoke, it sounded like they actually housed local authors in their store along with the birds, rocks, and insects, and that a bunch of kids and Scandinavians were corralled next door. This gave us a chuckle, since obviously she was referring to books on these subjects.

While North Wind is clearly connected to the students, it is also involved in the local community and they choose events that follow through with their brand. So along with book signings by local authors, they do creative events like celebrating the 25th birthday of “Where’s Waldo.” I would bet money that Waldo hiding among the bookshelves watching the festivities and wondering if anyone would notice him.

If you can’t visit North Wind in person, you can order their books and apparel online. Orders over $50 get free shipping, too.

Have you read any Armenian authors? 

“There is a campus read every spring, which is one of the different events on campus for students and the surrounding community.  We just read “The Gendarme by Mark Mustian.”

What’s on the North Wind reading list?

“The Fault in Our Stars"

What Alana is reading right now:

The Sixth Sense
Boys in the Boat

North Wind is located at 437 Quincy Street, Hancock, MI 49930, on U.S. Highway 41.

906-487-7217

888-285-8363.