Kyle Brown was in his first year at Emory University’s Goizueta Business School when he and his aunt, Annette Hughes, began dreaming of a business concept that would allow them to put their knowledge to work and reach their community.
Hughes, 65, was completing studies in the University of Georgia’s Master Gardener program in March of 2019 when she and Brown began initial talks surrounding the idea that would birth Bookstore Gallery, the business they’ve branded as a modern-day apothecary.
“He’s been really instrumental in my life as I’ve begun to age in sharing with me his dreams and desires,” Hughes said of Brown. “He has wanted to be an entrepreneur for a long time, and he found the courage to do it and shared this story with me and asked if I would participate, and I said, ‘Yes. Why not?’”
Credit: Contributed by Kyle Brown
Credit: Contributed by Kyle Brown
Starting out
The pair dipped their toes into the venture with three hemp-based teas they sold at a pop-up event on the Emory campus.
“It was just a smash hit,” Brown, 32, recalled to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We knew that we were on to something, and we wanted to create a business — or more like a community center — that focused on health and wellness.”
For Hughes, teas were a natural way to begin. She’d had an interest in them since her grandfather introduced her to medicinal properties of herbs in her teenage years. And the venture made business sense to both of them in light of the Agriculture Act of 2018, which removed hemp and hemp seeds from the Drug Enforcement Administration’s controlled substances schedule. Brown already had an online business selling CBD products, so he was able to bring a lot of knowledge to the eventual addition of those types of items as medicinals in the physical store the duo would go on to open.
Leading with education
But first, they needed to find a brick-and-mortar home for their dream. They spent two years looking at more than 16 locations across the city. The right candidate turned out to be an old theological bookstore that had stood empty for about six years. Its past turned out to be the perfect inspiration for the name of Brown and Hughes’ new effort.
“We finally found our home right here in the Castleberry area. We’re about a block away from the Mercedes Benz stadium,” Brown said. “We wanted to pretty much build upon the energy of community in the neighborhood and bring some life into this old building.”
The Bookstore Gallery doors officially opened on Sept. 26, 2022, and the duo began offering hemp-based teas, topicals for inflammation, massage oils, and edibles like cookies, gummies and brownies. Brown and Hughes, who goes by the persona “Auntea” in the shop, took the apothecary concept further with an aim to function as a community wellness hub.
The question in their minds was, “What does the community want us to do that we can do?” Hughes explained.
They began hosting discussion groups featuring health practitioners on topics like the benefits of hemp and CBD for women and education on autism. Comedy and jazz nights also became part of the offerings.
Credit: Contributed by Kyle Brown
Credit: Contributed by Kyle Brown
And there’s another important offshoot to being a community wellness presence.
“We’re both African American, and we see this business as a way to remove the stigma from hemp and cannabis,” Hughes said. “For so long, our communities have been incarcerated and arrested for the simple use or sale of cannabis products. And this is an opportunity to change the narrative.”
Leading with education is a key part of that effort, Brown said.
“We have actually have medical practitioners who come in who basically let folks know that, ‘Hey, we all have an endocannabinoid system, so we were made to process hemp and CBD and cannabis products,’” he said. “It really and truly is medicine and not a negative drug if used properly.”
The reception
Bookstore Gallery, Hughes has found, is a natural fit for the “the emerging Castleberry ethos.”
The neighborhood, she said, is “artsy, it’s eclectic, and its offerings of food and art — we just fit in really well as Castleberry begins to evolve.”
The feel of the store is geared toward relaxation and community with a tea bar and dab bar and tables and chairs where customers can settle in.
“Typically, what you see is the stores that you go into, you buy your product and you leave … Kyle likes to call it modeled after a Starbucks, if you will,” Hughes said.
Community reception, the two feel, has been overwhelmingly positive.
“All in all, there’s just a lot of great support from all of our stakeholders, not just from the politicians and our council folks but actual residents who live in Castleberry,” Brown said. “There are folks coming here on a daily basis who work remotely in our space.”
The next step for the Bookstore Gallery brand is a second location in the city of Atlanta, which will carry the same name. And delivery within a 15-mile radius of the businesses will eventually be a reality, Brown said. Products are already available online at bookstoregallery.com.
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