Bigfoot Books & Brews coming soon to downtown Marion
Downtown Marion will soon welcome a new boutique bookstore and coffee shop on the same day as the 2025 WNC Bigfoot Festival.
Bigfoot Books & Brews is a cozy and new boutique bookstore and coffee shop that will officially open its doors to the public on Saturday, Aug. 23, the same day as the Bigfoot Festival.
This new business can be found at 124 E. Court St., where Link Hot Dogs was previously located. Bigfoot Books & Brews will offer a curated selection of new and used books, coffee, tea, bottled beer and wine, and a signature cocktail served in an approved to-go cup for sipping and strolling, taking advantage of Marion’s downtown social district, according to a news release from Bigfoot Books & Brews.
Owner-operators Olyvia Knight and her father, Stephen Knight, say, “We’re excited to offer a fun, new ‘third place’ for the local Marion and McDowell County area in western North Carolina to gather around good books, great drinks and community events.”
The father-daughter duo is now running a Kickstarter campaign to raise additional funds to help toward final touches on the redesigned space, including an outdoor patio with string lights for evening events and marketing and promotion of upcoming book and community events. The campaign is currently close to 80% funded with an end date of Sunday, July 20, according to the news release.
You can visit the Kickstarter campaign at http://knightopia.net/kickstarter.
The Knights said they want to keep raising more money for upcoming events.
Olyvia and her father Stephen said Bigfoot Books & Brews will have a coffee shop in the front room and the bookstore will be located in the back room. Olyvia, who has a background of working in coffee shops, will serve up the beverages while her dad will oversee the bookstore business.
“The vibe will be cozy and warm — with lots of indoor and outdoor seating and free Wi-Fi for the folks who want to bring a laptop and get some co-working done,” reads the Kickstarter campaign. “We have an amazing patio space with ample seating outside for when the weather is beautiful (which is a lot of the time, thankfully!). Look for the string lights to light up your new outdoor hangout spot since we’ll be open later in the evenings.”
They will use Short Sleeves Coffee from Swannanoa and they just got their ABC permit for serving beer and wine. They will take advantage of being in Marion’s social district.
“We just got the slushie machine from McDowell Local,” said Stephen. “We will be able to start with a Bourbon Cheerwine slushie. It’s delicious.”
For the time being, just the two of them will work at the business, but as time goes on, they may add more staff, said Stephen.
They are both first-time business owners. Olyvia worked at a cat cafe in Gastonia and her dad has done some marketing and communications for publishing companies.
Both are graduates of the Growing Entrepreneurs Marion (GEM) program offered by the Marion Business Association.
In 2016, the Marion Business Association, the city of Marion, the McDowell Chamber of Commerce and McDowell Technical Community College Small Business Center partnered to create the Growing Entrepreneurs Marion (GEM) program. GEM offers an eight-class training program to teach basic entrepreneur skills, community demographics, small business impact on the community, networking skills, proper legal structure and how to navigate local building codes and inspectors. On completion of the GEM course, participants will have created a detailed business plan, according to information from the Marion Business Association.
All classes are offered through McDowell Technical Community College’s Small Business Center (MTCC), thus providing a structured registration and follow-up for small businesses, both start-ups and those businesses that are updating business plans.
Stephen said GEM is an “amazing thing in this community.”
In addition to being first-time business owners, the Knights are new to McDowell County. They previously lived in Gastonia and the Asheville area but were dislocated by Hurricane Helene.
Stephen said it was a lifelong dream of his to open a bookstore and his daughter will put her coffee shop experience to work with the new business.
They have already booked a series of community events featuring published authors.
Here’s the initial calendar of upcoming events:
Saturday, Aug. 23 at 10 a.m. — official grand opening
Saturday, Aug. 30 at 7 p.m. — John Pavlovitz, pastor and author of “Worth Fighting For: Finding Courage and Compassion When Cruelty Is Trending.”
Thursday, Sept. 4 at 7 p.m. — “Death Cafe” hosted by Rebecca Knight
Thursday, Sept. 18 at 7 p.m. — David LaMotte, singer/songwriter and author of “You Are Changing the World: Whether You Like It or Not.”
Saturday, Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. — Hurricane Helene Anniversary event hosted by Tye Dumas (from the “Growth By Insight” podcast), featuring local guests sharing how they were directly impacted and their remarkable recovery stories.
Bigfoot Books & Brews will be open Wednesday through Sunday from 1-9 p.m.
Stephen Knight and his daughter Olyvia both want Bigfoot Books & Brews to be a welcoming place where all people can gather for good beverages, books and discussions.
“The most important thing is we want this to be the ‘third place’ for people to gather,” said Stephen Knight. “Your home is your first place. Your work is your second place and where you gather for fun and enjoyment is your third place.”
The new business is on Facebook at www.facebook.com/bigfootbooksnc as well as Instagram, Bluesky and TikTok @bigfootbooksnc. The website (bigfootbooksnc.com) should be launching soon with more information.
