Owner of Bluffton children’s bookstore scrambling to find new location after eviction

The Storybook Shoppe, a children’s bookstore that has been a fixture in Old Town Bluffton for nearly 15 years, is looking for a new home and doesn’t have time to waste.

The bookstore, which has been on a month-to-month lease since it opened at 41 Calhoun St., was notified Jan. 5 that it must be out of the building by Feb. 10.

“We are desperately seeking a space,” owner Sally Sue Lavinge told The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette.

The Complete Home, also a tenant in the same building, must move as well. Owner Mary O’Neil said she fully understands this is a “business move.”

O’Neil will be moving her store to a new location a few blocks away, but construction will not be complete for approximately eight months.

Lavinge bought the Storybook Shoppe from Nancy Beaupre in 2015, and landlord Peter Palladino has owned the building since 2016.

Palladino said that, when he acquired the property, there was no signed lease agreement in place. It was a verbal, handshake and month-to-month arrangement. He said he never raised the rent for either of the tenants, even though the monthly amount was below market value for the area.

“With month-to-month tenancies, 30 days notice is all that is required legally,” he said. “We originally gave 30 days notice and gave Sally six more days because she asked.”

Palladino said that he did not advertise for new tenants, but the opportunity to move in a different direction with the property was presented to him and he had to move swiftly. The new tenants will occupy the entire space currently leased separately by The Storybook Shoppe and The Complete Home.

He would not reveal exactly what would be moving into the space but said he feels it will be a positive addition to the community.

Palladino said he wishes he could keep both businesses as tenants.

“Sally and Mary are incredible people, and I really like them,” he said, adding that property taxes and utility costs, which he covers, have increased. “All the expenses on my end are going up.”

Two months ago, when Lavinge asked if it was okay to paint, Palladino said he advised her not to invest money in the building because changes were coming.

Lavinge said she is disappointed her business was not offered the opportunity to even talk about a rent increase to remain in the space.

Still, even though she describe the task of packing up a large inventory of books while trying to find a new location as a “gut punch,” Lavinge also sees an opportunity.

“We’re going to pivot,” she said.

The bookstore, which is known for hosting story time and other events, is planning to do pop-up sales until a new space can be found.

Lavinge said she is focusing on a quote that is on a sign in the back of the store: “Speak kind words; you’ll hear kind echoes.”