Sisters Bookshop seeks bibliophile buyer
Sweet Auburn Curb Market’s “hidden gem” in danger of closing.
Tucked into a corner of Sweet Auburn Curb Market, past the pigs’ feet and cappuccinos, Sisters Bookshop emanates a welcoming glow to shoppers, diners and passersby with its rows of paperbacks and hardcovers, trinkets, key chains, and old VHS tapes.
But the little bookstore, whose selection is surprisingly eclectic for its size — an Isabel Allende novel might share a shelf with Biblical Financial Study — may close for good if proprietor Pam Culbreath is unable to find a successor. The name, Sisters, is a reference to the store as a joint venture between Culbreath and her sister, Caroline Walker, who is also unable to continue running it.
Mounting family obligations and failing health led Culbreath to hang a For Sale sign out front in January. So far, she has been unable to attract a buyer for a “negotiable” asking price of $20,000.
Culbreath says the store came to her as a vision from God over 10 years ago. As a community advocate on the southside of Atlanta, she noticed many of the local children were unable to read.
“My heart just kind of went out to the children,” Culbreath says. “They couldn’t read, they were nowhere near the level of reading they should be at and so I just kind of started a vision that God gave me as my heart kinda of went out to the children. He said, ‘OK, do the books.’”
Over the years, the location and mission of the store evolved. Culbreath, a woman of deep faith, says she felt God’s guidance at every step along the way.
Today, Sisters boasts special sections on African and Native American history, spirituality, and the literature and history of Atlanta and the South. There are also piles of romance novels, cookbooks, self help tomes, and cassette tapes of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, among others.
Culbreath decided last year she needed to sell the shop or step back from daily operations after her granddaughter and son came to live with her. At 13, her granddaughter needs a mother figure’s guidance, Culbreath says.
“My health is not the greatest,” she says. “I’m tired half the time. I just had to make some decisions.” Despite setting a deadline to sell or shutter in early 2016, when no suitable buyer appeared, Culbreath says she just couldn’t bring herself shut Sisters down for good.
“My heart wouldn’t let me do it,” she says, adding she intends to “hang in” for as long as she can. She still holds out hope of finding a new owner for Sisters Bookshop, one who shares her vision of the store as a community asset. In the meantime, she says she would settle for a manager who would be willing to take over.
“An ideal buyer would be someone with a love for books,” Culbreath says. “Someone that has really good social media skills would be ideal, someone who’s young and energetic. That can take it to a whole different spectrum, whether it’s getting book clubs together, getting reading clubs together, those kinds of things.”
Built for browsing, not lounging, Sisters has no couches or seating area, and certainly nowhere to plug in a laptop. There are no study groups or awkward Tinder dates happening here. Rather, it seems the type of small bookstore that might be located in a train station where the train only runs once a week.
Bob Morrison, an artist and semi-regular customer, is found perusing a pushcart of old paperbacks, holding a weathered copy of Tales from the Unknown, a collection of horror stories with a stylized skull on the cover.
“It’s from the 1970s so I know it’s a classic,” Morrison says, picking it up for a friend. He expresses concern for the fate of Sisters. “I love it,” he says. “It’s cozy and something about there being a bookstore in the market here is so odd and fun and unique … the atmosphere of this bookstore is terrific.”
Natasha Browner works at the Morehouse School of Medicine and often comes by the market to grab a bite and browse. She says she loves feeling the spines of books and the turn of pages under her fingers.
“Growing up, that was all I knew — I would go to the secondhand bookstore,” Browner says. “I’m kind of nervous that my daughter won’t have that experience; for her everything will be digital. It’s kind of heartbreaking.”
Kiki Laurencin, who manages Rawesome Juicery across from the bookshop, said she’s crossing her fingers that it finds a way to stay open.
“Me, personally, I love to eat and read at the same time, so I think it’s really smart having it in the Market,” Laurencin says. ”I think it’s really cute right there. It’s like a hidden gem: If you know about it, you come. You always come.”
Sisters Bookshop, 290 Edgewood Ave. S.E. Open Mon.-Sat., 10 a.m.-6 p.m. 404-458-5404.