Growing up, Emily Baker spent countless afternoons flipping through books with her mom, Rachel, by her side. Now, the two are bringing the shared love of reading to the community with Emry’s Bookshop, a new bookstore expected to open this summer on Hilton Head Island.
Emily told What Now Charleston after moving to Bluffton, she began working at Book Warehouse. When the store was bought out by another company, they realized the area lacked a local bookstore.
“In the age of streaming and downloading there’s so many things we don’t own anymore and I think it’s so important to have physical copies in our possession,” Emily said. “I love having my little at home library where I have my bookshelves full with all my knickknacks on it and I can’t imagine not having physical copies of books.”
Emry’s draws its name from family—combining the first two letters of Emily’s name with the first two from her brother Ryan’s. With a strong family bond at the heart of their new venture, the mother-daughter duo is excited to begin this next chapter together.
“My mom has always been my biggest supporter and honestly my best friend,” Emily said. “I can’t imagine doing this with anyone else and we just know how each other work, we know how to talk to each other. I think it just makes sense.”
Rachel agreed, stating, “We can get into an argument or whatever but we leave saying ‘I love you,’ because we’re family and that might be different with a different kind of business partner. I think that’s a giant benefit to having your partner be someone you love unconditionally.”
Rachel and Emily said Emry’s will reimagine the feel of a vintage library, creating a space that feels as cozy and inviting as home. To bring that vision to life, they’ve been collecting furniture from antique and thrift stores across the island, aiming for an eclectic style that blends old-world charm with a warm, personal touch.
“We’re not only including the locality through that but we also hope that someone is going to come in and go, ‘Hey, that’s my grandma’s chair.’ How cool would that be. We have all kinds of different tables, chairs, rugs and lamps and none of it matches but it all goes together,” Emily said.
To further engage the senses, they hope the scent inside the shop will evoke a sense of nostalgia and take visitors down memory lane.
“It’s just walking into any place that sells old books or anything like that–there’s just something so comforting and so familiar about the smell and we want to replicate that,” Rachel said.
They also plan to offer coffee, tea and soft drinks, adding comforting flavors and aromas to the experience.
“I think down the line we would absolutely love to have a full cafe and we have space for it,” Rachel said. “We’re focusing on the bookstore right now, but I just purchased some big coffee pots so we will have some offerings in the beginning.”
While the grand opening date is still tentative, Emry’s Bookshop plans to open its doors in mid-August. For updates, visit the shop’s website and social media pages.
