Spend time with the Gists: Meet the founders and their story

When Craig and I met, both of us had been divorced for a significant time, each raising three children and focused on our careers. After dating for over a year, Craig surprised me with an elaborate fairy-tale proposal, which I of course, said "YES" to. We decided that when my youngest left for college I would move from Norwalk, Ohio, to Davison, Michigan, as his youngest was still in high school. I had worked as a hospital social worker for nearly 25 years, and Craig had been with the Michigan Lottery Commission for almost 20 years. Together, we have six adult children across five states, their partners, and our two-year-old grandson, Charlie (the “model” in our profile picture—it's candid!).

Craig had started Turn the Page before we met, primarily as an eBay store, to teach his sons about business and responsibility. As an avid reader, I’ve always loved books. Together, we began to grow the business to. About 18 months ago, I left my healthcare career to focus on expanding into a brick-and-mortar store. On September 28, 2023, we eloped and shared the news with family and friends after exchanging vows. A week or two later, we opened our first physical location inside of The Wooden Tulip at Canterbury Village in Lake Orion, Michigan.

Seeing growth in both that space and our eBay store, we decided to look for our own standalone location in Davison. After months of searching, we fell in love with our current space at 9009 Davison Road. With help from our families and friends, we opened on June 1 of this year, aiming to create a cozy, welcoming space that our customers would look forward to visiting. In less than six months, we’ve surpassed our goals and accomplished more than we expected. When people walk through our doors, we don’t just see customers—we see friends. We've grown our customer base, expanded our book selection, and recently added a "bookish" apparel line.

On Craig’s wedding band I had inscribed with “our best chapter”. It was just another catalyst & inspiration for us to work tirelessly to make this dream a reality