Discove r Cit yV iewN C.co m's fre s h up d ate d loo k ! | 19
B
Carpet | Hardwood | Vinyl | Laminate | Tile | Area Rugs
2825 Raeford Rd
(910) 485-5865
PARTNERING WITH
ERIE INSURANCE GROUP
SINCE 1992
CALLAHANRICE.COM
910.484.6171
HOME • AU TO • LIF E • BUSINESS
B
abette Augustin admits
she didn't know a
herringbone from a
houndstooth when she
moseyed into e Mill
End Store a few years ago aer a
colleague's going-away luncheon. But
as she found herself surrounded by all
the brilliant bolts of brocade, damask
and tweedinside the shop that was
then-located in Tallywood Shopping
Center, she had the undeniable feeling
that she had come home.
"I had never been in a home décor
fabric store," she said. "I did not know
what home décor fabric was. I had no
clue. I don't sew. I can do a button in 45
minutes with some heart palpitations. I
staple my hems."
But she had a bench at home that
her father had made for her. e bench
needed to be recovered.
"I had never seen so much fabric,"
she said. "I'd never had anything
upholstered."
While surveying all the possibilities,
she struck up a conversation with
then-owner Ann Lewis, who filled her
in on the history of one of Fayetteville's
oldest woman-owned businesses. In
1975, Lewis bought e Mill End Store
from her aunt, Edna Coniffe, who had
founded the business in 1936.
"She told me how she had bought
it and it had saved her life," Augustin
said.
ough she'd earned a Master of
Fine Arts degree, Augustin had spent
32 years in journalism and was photo
editor for e Fayetteville Observer
at the time. In 2016, she decided to
leave journalism and learn the fabric
business from Lewis, who relocated
the store from Tallywood to Eutaw
Shopping Center. Aer a year and a
half, Augustin bought the business
outright.
"You remember how exciting it was
when you were growing up to get a
