Lake Orion’s Celtic Cove one of the last of a fading business
Left to right, Mary Renkola, D.J. Jenks, Judy Jenks, and Breege Regan-Kelly stand in front of a bookshelf at Celtic Cove Catholic Bookstore in Lake Orion. Regan-Kelly, the store's owner for 13 years, said she hopes customers will buy books during the last weeks to donate them to local schools and libraries.Mike Stechschulte | The Michigan Catholic
Lake Orion — Running any small business is a labor of love, but running a Catholic bookstore is more than that. It’s a mission.
So says Breege Regan-Kelly, whose Celtic Cove Catholic Bookstore in quaint downtown Lake Orion will close at the end of April after 13 years in business.
With Regan-Kelly ready to retire, and the landlord seeking to put a new restaurant into the tiny space on Flint Street, the final chapter for the bookstore makes sense. But that doesn’t make it any less bittersweet for Regan-Kelly, for whom the store has been an Irish blessing.
An Irish immigrant who spent most of her career as a nurse and teacher, Regan-Kelly started the bookstore after moving from Royal Oak to Oxford in 1999.
“Since I have a background in teaching and nursing, I knew education was very important to help people live healthy,” Regan-Kelly said. “To live a good, healthy spiritual life, you need education. What I felt needed to be done was to provide resources for young families.”
Since that time, customers have used the store’s resources to start Bible studies, book clubs and gain a new appreciation for classic devotions. Besides books, the store also offered Irish import gifts, including statuary, sacramentals and gifts for first Communions and confirmations.
On the back wall of Celtic Cove, Regan-Kelly posts pictures of local priests, asking customers to pray for them. She says she’s been encouraged at the growing faith of the community.
“I see the incredible growth of the people,” Regan-Kelly said. “I really think that if our pastors knew the spiritual growth and excitement that’s out there among the people they would be really comforted.”
However, Celtic Cove is one of a fast-disappearing breed, Regan-Kelly said, as Catholic stores across the country have struggled to keep up with a rise in online sales, an overall decline in book sales and a smaller Catholic population.
“In January, one of the reps from a company I do business with said we were the sixth store that month to say we were closing in Michigan,” said Regan-Kelly, who added debt was a factor in the decision. “It’s really hard for me to hear people say, ‘What are we going to do? Where are we going to find this stuff?’ I know that people have really benefitted from the store, and that it does need to continue.”
Mary Renkola, a volunteer who’s helped Regan-Kelly with outreach and parish visits over the years, wants to see that happen. Renkola and a group of volunteers are researching ways to keep the store’s mission going even after Regan-Kelly’s retirement, but she acknowledged running a Catholic bookstore as a business in today’s climate is difficult.
“There’s a great interest out there, and we don’t want to let this treasure for our whole Catholic community go,” said Renkola, a parishioner at nearby St. Joseph the Worker Parish.
Rather than a sole proprietor, Renkola said another option would be to run the store as a volunteer, cooperative venture as a sort of Catholic community center, with space for homeschooling families, book studies and events.
“We’re trying to get people together who are like-minded,” Renkola said. “When Breege and I sent out emails, we found people who said, ‘I can do this,’ or ‘I can do that.’ So we set up categories for them to think about,” Renkola said. “Prayer, first of all, but then promoting, volunteering in the store, and financial. We’ve had people answer to varying degrees.”
Perhaps there is a future for Catholic bookstores as lay-run, volunteer apostolates, Regan-Kelly said, and if there is, it would be to the Church’s great benefit.
“That’s the whole idea, that we need help from the community,” Regan-Kelly said. “There has to be a new approach.”
Renkola said the volunteer group of about 25 — including close friends D.J. and Judy Jenks, who’ve also helped Regan-Kelly at Celtic Cove — is still looking for a head person and location, but what’s most needed is a large-scale donation to get the project started.
“It’s a mission, and there’s a need out there,” said Judy Jenks. “It’s important that it go on because it’s the only thing around here.”
Celtic Cove
Celtic Cove Catholic Bookstore is at 45 W. Flint St., Lake Orion. The store will be open until April 30 except Sundays and Mondays. Call (248) 693-8450.
