Indyweek Applauds Chris Tonelli with an Indy Arts Award

Carolina-based periodical, Indyweek, honors Birds LLC founder and So & So Books co-founder, Chris Tonelli, with an Indy Arts Award for his outstanding impact on the area's literary scene. He receives the accolade alongside Greg Lowenhagen and Cicely Mitchell, Emil Kang, Kym Register, and Dasan Ahanu. More:

Several months passed before Charles Wilkes realized he might need to ask his business partner what would happen if the bookstore they had opened together never made any money.

In early 2013, Wilkes had just turned 30. He had a steady income and was married without children. But Chris Tonelli—the other half of So & So Books, a little part-time shop in the storefront of an architecture studio on Raleigh's revitalized Person Street—was at a different point in his life. A married homeowner and father of two, he was approaching 40.

"I wasn't sure if we were on the same page," remembers Wilkes. "We hadn't talked about it at that level."

In fact, So & So Books stemmed largely from conversational daydreams the two had shared about the possibility of a bookstore near downtown Raleigh, exchanges that friends at In Situ Studios overheard. They had extra space in their new office and could offer cheap, low-pressure rent for the right retail endeavor. Tonelli and Wilkes accepted, invested what they could in bookshelves and a modest first purchase of inventory and never pursued the sort of extensive business planning a bank loan would require. When it became clear that their profit margin would mean perpetually breaking even, Wilkes worried Tonelli might not have time to stick around.

"How long would we do this if Chris wasn't going to get paid for his time? I finally broached the subject, and I was reassured that he felt like we were offering a service," says Wilkes, laughing in a way that suggests he's still nervous about the numbers. "We felt like we played a role in helping the community exist." [...]

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