Hilton Head mother-daughter duo opening bookstore for the love of reading

In the era of Amazon and e-books, who would have imagined that a brick-and-mortar, ink-on-paper bookstore would open on Hilton Head Island in summer 2025?

That’s exactly what mother-and-daughter business partners Emily and Rachel Baker are doing to support the consumption of physical media. They are set to launch Emry’s Bookshop in The Port Royal Plaza Hilton Head Island sometime in August. The store will be in the shopping area on the north end just south of the airport near the Planet Fitness gym.

Who are the owners?

Emily, 25, moved to Bluffton for a job at Book Warehouse in the Tanger Outlets and Rachel, 45, was drawn to the Lowcountry to become a local in the “place we would have retired anyway.”

The two have a very close, mother-daughter relationship. They have learned to separate their 50-50 business partner relationship to their life at home.

The two said it was easy for them to work together because, even if they butted heads, they knew they had each other, no matter what.

“It is so wonderful opening a store with your family, specifically with my mom, because we have been best friends for the majority of our life,” Emily said.

What inspired the bookstore?

Emily noticed the area’s need for a local bookstore. She discussed it with her mother and the idea was on it’s way to becoming a reality. “We knew that we both always loved books. She raised me with a huge library in the house.”

Rachel said she would visit her daughter at her previous bookstore job and noticed how many people came in to talk about the books. She said she also noticed how sad many people were that Book Warehouse was closing.

As sad as it was for locals, it marked an opportunity in the market for a place where people can come in and read, as if they were in their very own living room, Rachel said.

The comfortable space

The interior of the store will be designed to be cozy and warm. They are hoping to achieve a vintage library feeling where customers feel comfortable to come and spend time.

They want to cater to the local community by having space for local authors as well as offering selections that could appeal to anybody. From tourists, to retirees, to the younger people living and working in the area too. They intend on honing their selection to what interests their customers.

The idea of ‘third spaces’

Emily said she was inspired by online discussions of third spaces, which means a place other than home or work and school that people can go to spend time such as cafes, libraries or community centers.

“I also felt the need for, being someone who is in the younger generation living in the area, I felt that we had a lack of spaces to hang out or to socialize that’s not a restaurant or a bar or the beach,” Emily said.

She said she wants Emry to be a place of socializing but also a place to do school work or remote work.

They hope to offer a simple coffee bar at the outset and possibly expanding in the future.

The name of the store, Emry, comes from the first two letters of Rachel’s two kids, Emily and Ryan and the store front features the shop’s logo on the window, two butterfly wings on either side of books. Emily designed the logo.

Favorite books and authors

Rachel said her favorite genre is thriller/horror books. She said her preferred author is Dean Koontz and his “Odd Thomas” series with her favorite being “Lost Boys” by Orson Scott Card.

Emily said her favorite genre is psychological thrillers/horror and she recalls fondly reading “Afterworlds” by Scott Westerfeld.

Future of Emry

The store is set to open its doors in mid-August. They said they will be posting updates about their opening on their Facebook and Instagram.

Rachel and Emily hope to make their mark in Hilton Head by making people feel comfortable, loved and accepted in their space.

“I just want you to walk in and eventually feel like family, like we know who you are, you know who we are,” Rachel said. “We care about more than just you buying books, but like how’s your life? What’s going on? We want to keep in touch with people like that.”

This story was originally published July 21, 2025 at 10:03 AM.