One of the last Catholic bookstores in Metro Detroit, Celtic Cove Catholic Bookstore embarks upon new chapter in Oxford
OXFORD — When Celtic Cove Catholic Bookstore manager Jeanette Pardonoff found out that the store’s lease wasn’t being renewed in December 2024, at first, she scrambled, worried they wouldn’t be able to find another suitable and affordable location.
However, by Feb. 1, the store was able to host its grand reopening, introducing a bigger, cozier space not only to their faithful customers of the past 20 years, but also to a countless number of new clientele who might never have seen the store if it weren’t for its new location.
The new store, located at 925 N. Lapeer Road, on the north end of the Legacy 925 Complex — a family community center with bowling, arcade, pizza and more — sees a steady stream of families with young children on a daily basis. Pardonoff, who has been the manager for nine years and oversees the store’s volunteer staff, says the bookstore is ready and excited to meet them.
“We think this is actually where God wants us because there are lots of children here and lots of activity, so we are thinking some people might wander in that maybe don’t know about us,” Pardonoff explained. "This was not a move that we ever thought we’d have to do, but it turned out to be a really great fit.”
This is the store’s third location since its founding in 1999 by Breege Regan-Kelly, an Irish immigrant who started the store initially as an Irish import gift shop. In 2005, it became a Catholic bookstore. Regan-Kelly retired in 2016, but volunteers were able to take over the business and turn it into a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
The new store is not only spacious and comfortable, Pardonoff said, but it has big windows, allowing passersby to see the religious items sold in the store from the outside, including Catholic-themed artwork, books, children's toys, rosaries and jewelry.
“We do get a lot of people walking by, looking in, coming in and asking, 'What is this place?’” Pardonoff told Detroit Catholic. “We really want to evangelize (with this new space), and we are thinking once we settle down a bit, we can get out there.”
New customers have already begun to trickle in, Pardonoff said, beginning with the grand reopening, when the community showed up in droves to support the store and brought food to share while listening to an Irish band play.
“People stopped in that weren't even Catholic, like one man to whom I sold a rosary because he said, ‘I’ve always heard about something you guys use to pray with,’ so I walked him over and showed him the rosary and how to pray it and got him a pamphlet,” Pardonoff said.
While the prospect of moving is daunting, Pardonoff said she and the rest of the staff feel that God wanted them in this new space.
“We all prayed a novena to St. Joseph to find us a home, and this is like a home compared to the space. Our other place was really small and very cramped. We were on the main road, but not that many people pulled over and came in. Now, we are in a huge place,” Pardonoff said. “It has three rooms: a kids room, an adult book room, and a main room. The other space was so small you couldn't really see what we had. (The move) was a blessing in disguise — we were tripping over each other at the old spot.”
Pardonoff describes the new space as “homey” and says the extra room has allowed the team to add elements they always dreamed of but couldn’t fit in the old store, such as sitting areas both indoors and outdoors where customers can sit and enjoy the free cookies or coffee bar.
Pardonoff has a vision of the store being used for homeschoolers to meet and host book clubs or for Bible study groups. She also hopes to use the Legacy Center to host family nights when the store can raise money for one of the many causes it currently supports, such as Gianna House, Better Way Detroit and Grizzly Catholic at Oakland University.
“This is more than a store — it’s like a ministry,” Pardonoff said. “Every day, someone comes in and shares something sad that we pray over and put in our prayer bowl, or older people just want to come and hang out and have someone to talk to. There are a lot of special things that go on here. We aren’t here for ourselves — we are all volunteers — we are here for the community.”
