Offshoot offers Eagle River offline, tangible media

Matthew Day

Staff

November 10, 2025

EAGLE RIVER – Mark Pinski – owner of Offshoot Books & Vinyl in Eagle River – said he thinks the convenience of digital media is bringing about a tangible backlash. 

“I think a lot of people – and a lot of young kids also – are either consciously or subconsciously craving something they can hold in their hands,” he said, “something they can buy and collect, instead of just hitting a button on their phone to ‘own’ something.”

To provide Eagle River residents and visitors with hands-on, physical media options, Pinski said he opened Offshoot in June. 

The store, he said, stocks new records and books – including a children’s section – as well as used books and vinyl purchased from those looking to lighten or liquidate their collections. 

Located 117 E. Wall St. in Eagle River’s burgeoning downtown, Pinski said Offshoot helps address what had been a prolonged void of bookstores and music retailers in the city. 

“I don’t know how many years we’ve needed a bookstore,” he said. “There hasn’t been one for quite a while.” 

Pinski said when he and his wife, Cortnee, moved to Eagle River about 12 years ago, its only bookstore – an outlet of the now-defunct, national chain Book World – was already closed. 

The absence, he said, hasn’t gone unnoticed.  

When Cortnee opened a juice bar – Roots – in the former bookstore’s location, Pinski said locals long referenced the building’s literary past. 

He said he and Cortnee also lamented Eagle River’s bookstore-shaped hole, and as a fond tribute, put up the old Book World sign in their yard. 

Now, Pinski – who works as an elementary school teacher by day – said, along with records, it feels right to restore such retail to the city. 

“It’s kind of cool that we bought the old bookshop building, and now we opened another bookshop,” he said. 

Shooting his shot 

Though he has long been a proponent of records and books, Pinski said it was Cortnee who helped him come up with the idea for his own store. 

“She owns the business right across [the street], and she noticed the shop that I’m [now] in had been sitting vacant for a while…,” he said. “I thought, ‘Why not combine [books and records] and see what happens?’” 

What happened, Pinski said, was Offshoot – a name which “branches” off of Roots, borrowed from his hobbyist music project. 

“In the last four or five years, I started making music – kind of hip-hop sample music from vinyl records – and I picked the Offshoot name for that,” he said. “When I opened the record[/book] store, I just carried the name over.” 

Pinski said he began renting the building this past spring under an agreement that he would take charge of all renovation work, while his new landlord would cover the cost of materials.

To achieve his vision of not only retail but “a place where you can kind of hang out, too” – and be ready for the height of Eagle River’s busy tourist season – he said he spent many late nights painting, doing demolition work and replacing carpeting and light fixtures.

In addition to making the building’s atmosphere “a little bit more chill,” Pinski said he wanted to set up a dedicated room for children’s books. 

“My plan was to be open by June, and luckily, I hit that deadline,” he said. 

During the summer, Pinski said Offshoot was open every day except for Sundays – a schedule he could accommodate due to his school’s summer break. 

During the school year, he said the store is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, with one “excellent” employee opening the store on weekdays. 

Off to a good start 

Pinski said the Eagle River community has embraced Offshoot from the outset, with shoppers eager to step away from digital media and online shopping to support a local, community-oriented brick-and-mortar.

“There are a lot of comments from people saying, ‘I enjoy coming down to shop and being able to actually hold something and look at it,’ and ‘I like to buy local, even though I might pay a little bit less online,’” he said. “It’s been well received.” 

Supporters, Pinski said, have spanned from locals to tourists, and from long-time music fans to young enthusiasts – including his elementary school students – who are just starting to build their record collections.

“It’s so neat to see middle school- and high school-age kids buying old, used, vintage records,” he said. “It’s probably one of my favorite parts of doing it… These kids have the option to just buy stuff on their phone, which a lot of them do, but the fact that they will come down – some of them ride their bikes down – and they’re collecting, it’s so neat to see.” 

Another major source of support, Pinski said, has come from people who take the time to donate their used books and records.

In Offshoot’s infancy, he said he had to “hunt down everything,” digging through online posts for nearby book/record collection sales, while also making weekly trips to stores in Wausau to sift through used media sections. 

“Now, a lot of people are just bringing them to me, and then I price and buy them, and it’s become much easier,” he said. 

Pinski said he especially appreciates when someone brings in a neglected collection that’s just been taking up room.  

“There are so many people who just have [records and books] down in their basement, and they just don’t [use them],” he said. “[Bringing them to Offshoot] is helping me, and it’s helping them, if they want to free up more space or they want to make a little extra cash.” 

In some cases, Pinski said collections are simply donated – “people are very generous around here.”

He said generosity has also come from out-of-town visitors – from places like Madison, Milwaukee and even St. Louis – who are pleasantly surprised to find a store like his in Eagle River.

“They’ll say something like, ‘The record shops in my town just ripped me off, they’re so impersonal,’ so they will go back home, and the next time they come up to visit, they’ll bring me a couple of crates or records or whatever,” he said. “It’s neat to see just how giving and how thoughtful people are, because for a lot of them, there would be a much easier route to just drop them off in their hometown or wherever they live.”

More in store 

Pinski said Offshoot’s new and used inventory covers a span of literary and music genres. 

“[For new records], it’s a lot of classic rock, some jazz, some blues,” he said. “Hip-hop has sold really well – old hip-hop and newer hip-hop. I kind of go off what I know is going to sell, but also what I enjoy listening to.” 

Pinski said the store’s top-selling category is used vinyl – with classic rock being the most popular – followed by used books, then new books and finally new vinyl.  

Such sales trends, he said, have surprised him. 

“I was kind of thinking I needed to sell books to help open a record store, but it’s actually been the opposite – I’ve been selling more records than I have been books,” he said. 

Pinski said Offshoot also stocks a variety of turntables and other record-related accessories. 

With its largely fluid inventory, he said the store has already been able to establish repeat customers. 

“I’m getting people who have bought new books for me, and then they sell them back to me as used books,” he said. “I’m starting to see the regulars.” 

Surrounded by other small businesses and retailers, Pinski said Offshoot is “definitely fitting the vibe of what’s happening downtown.” 

Outside of Eagle River’s tourism peaks, he said he’s enjoyed brainstorming other ideas to keep the store lively.

One such idea, he said, was his recent launch of monthly, Offshoot-sponsored vinyl nights at Roots’ after-hours alter ego, Bar Alchemy. 

“I’m just trying to be creative,” he said. “I plan on hosting book clubs there. I plan on starting story time for kids. I’m just trying to come up with new ideas to keep people engaged and whatnot.” 

Above all, though, Pinski said he relishes being the region’s resource for physical media – providing the timeless feel of a tactile book, the extra artwork and details on a record jacket, the unique “frequency of the vinyl sound,” fair prices on all items and the adventure and connection of actual books and records. 

For his customers, as well as himself, Pinski said Offshoot is “a really pleasant place to come into.”  

“We have used books starting at $4 – we have tons of them – all the way up to new books,” he said. “Same thing with records: I have a $2 bin, and then I have some high-end stuff. Then we also have new and used kids’ books. There’s a wide range of products. Come on in, and I’m sure there’s something you could find that would interest you.” 

Find Offshoot Books & Vinyl on Instagram for more information.