Two Sisters Bookery: New Owner, Same Name

July 01, 2008

When Cathy Stanley e-mailed friends and neighbors to advertise the sale of her bookstore, Two Sisters Bookery in Wilmington, North Carolina, Angela Carr wasted no time in responding. Carr learned of the sale on June 2, and by June 20 she owned the bookstore. "I got an e-mail from Cathy and immediately jumped," said Carr. "I got the financing and bought the store within two weeks."

Born and raised in Wilmington, Carr has a degree in psychology and culinary arts, and her career path includes turns as a chef and a flight attendant. She left the workforce about nine years ago, when she became pregnant with her first child, but was ready to return and had been researching a career in bookselling when Two Sisters came on the market. "It was very fortuitous," Carr said. "I knew Cathy, and I thought, What perfect timing. Now I've got me a bookstore."

Carr co-owns the store with her mother, Brooks Preik, who, as it happens, is a Two Sisters bestselling-author. Preik wrote Haunted Wilmington and the Cape Fear Coast: A Collection of "True" Ghost Stories (John F. Blair), about the surrounding area.

Stanley told BTW that she opted to sell Two Sisters store because it was difficult to maintain the business along with her second store, DeeGee's Gifts & Books, a landmark in Morehead City, North Carolina, for almost 75 years. "DeeGee's is quite a bit larger than Two Sisters, and they both have very different personas," she explained. "They're also two hours apart. I needed to concentrate on just one."

In response to advertising in BTW, as well as via her mailing list, Stanley reported that she had had between 50 to 75 people express interest in Two Sisters.

The 1,600-square-foot store, originally called The Bookery, was founded in the 1980s. In the early '90s, two sisters, Mary House and Wanda Cagiano, took over the business and added "Two Sisters" to the name. Stanley bought the store from House and Cagiano in 2002 and decided to keep the Two Sisters name, despite not having any sisters. Carr said that she'll also keep the name, adding, "I actually have two sisters."

The bookstore will undergo a little tinkering, but Carr plans to leave the local interest section as is and will maintain the store's events calendar. "We have a wonderfully rich history in this area and wonderful local authors," she said. "So we'll keep that as a focus. But I definitely plan on expanding the children's section." She'll also uphold the practice of stocking every available space with books and book-related sidelines like quills, fountain pens, ink, and nibs. When she has questions about the business, Carr can turn to Stanley, who has agreed to mentor her as long as she needs the help.

To celebrate her new career as a bookseller and a grand reopening of Two Sisters, Carr will hold an open house and cocktail party in September.

"I'm thrilled that Wilmingtonians who have shopped at the bookstore for a long time, and [who] know its history and its market, have bought it," said Stanley. "It seems like a good fit to me." --Karen Schechner

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