Iconic Twigs and Teacups Sold—Shines On!

For 23 years, Twigs and Teacups, a Chestertown retail centerpiece, has offered the kinds of gifts that make one gleefully ask—half-knowingly—“where in the world did you ever find that?”

Sisters April and Eugenia Marshall—and their dedicated staff—have had a majestic knack for making magic happen in the gift world for generations of Chestertown kids, their parents, and every visitor who has stayed in town for more than three heartbeats.

In fact, “Twigs,” as locals like to call the shop, has a contagious effect on people. You might wander in to browse, but you won’t leave without finding an excuse to buy something—secretly for yourself, of course—even though you might claim desperately to need a hand puppet of a rooster for that distant cousin you’ve not seen in over a decade.

And forget the winter holidays—by November you’ll just want to curl up under the twinkling lights and hope the toy makers will wake you in the morning. Please, just throw me a gingersnap; I’ll be fine, you dream.

Twigs and Teacups sold. Yes, sold. And that can be a scary word in Chestertown.

But before you start hyperventilating as you realize you might never again find a Magic 8-Ball, a bar of Lime Zest Shay Butter Soap from Provence, a children’s tea set, or a Baggallini Bagg to match last birthday’s silk scarf, take a deep breath.

The new owners know exactly what they’re doing and have the sisters’ blessing, along with some intense consulting about acquisition, seasonal strategies and maybe even a few tried and true magical incantations.

Twigs and Teacups will continue to brighten another million birthdays, holidays, rainy days and even days you just want to buy a zany gift for that long lost cousin, even though you haven’t been in touch for years.

It happened like this: fear of losing the one-of-a-kind “Twigs” triggered a bi-coastal dialogue between Erin Heckles and her parents, Chestertown residents Paul and Jayne Heckles. Erin was living and working as a teacher in Portland, Oregon, and noticed the “For Sale” sign in front of the Twigs and Teacups shop while visiting her parents in Chestertown. For Erin, Twigs was love at first sight, but the idea of owning a retail gift shop was relegated to the land of fanciful daydreaming until it occurred to her:

“What if someone bought Twigs…and changed it?”

Jayne and Paul discovered Chestertown three years ago. It was one of those moments with which many of us are familiar.

“We had pretty rigid criteria about where we wanted to live after retirement,” says Paul Heckles, a former engineer for Colgate-Palmolive. “We wanted a small town, water, near a College, and in the proximity of our grandchildren in Delaware. And there was one other thing—I wanted Orioles TV. For 37 years I was subjugated to Yankees and Mets games while working in New Jersey,” he laughs.

The day they drove over the Chester River Bridge and into town, both of them said, “O, oh.” They knew they were onto something. Could this be the place?

Jokes aside, when the Heckles began to look into the possibility of acquiring Twigs and Teacups, research began to heat up and things began to fall into place.

“I knew that I wanted to be closer to my family,” Erin says. “I’d been teaching English in a French-English school for ten years and I wanted a life change. The timing seemed perfect.”

After a few flights back and forth for Erin, while Paul applied his engineering skills to inspect the structure of the Twigs and Teacups building — once the Gill Brothers Creamery building—and talked to accountants while Jane studied inventory and the backroom minutiae that keeps a business running, the family felt they’d done all their homework.

“We kept peeling the onion, and not finding a problem,” Paul says.

The family made an offer and held their breath.

For April and Eugenia there was a mixture of elation, relief and the inevitable wisp of sentiment—like saying goodbye to an old friend—that sweeps through moments of great change.

“Twigs needs some new blood. Like any project you put your heart into there are limits to what you can continue to see and do additionally to keep a business vibrant. Erin really has a good feel for what Genie and I have accomplished, has a great eye for eclectic range of gifts,  plus she has the kind of enthusiasm and ideas that will result in an exciting shop for everyone,” April say. “We couldn’t be happier for her.”

When asked about future plans, traveling or undertaking new projects, April looked around the shop, took a deep breath and said, “We spent much of our lives here. I think I just just want to go home,” she says with a broad smile.

The sisters will be missed. Erin, Jayne and Paul are being welcomed open arms. The five of them have already spent a weekend in New York City on a crash-course shopping mission. Jayne and Paul are gearing up to help with inventory and bookkeeping.

“April and Eugenia have changed our lives. We couldn’t make this transition without them,” Jayne says.

Erin brightens as the front door swings open for a large UPS delivery.

Twigs and Teacups continues. The Magic 8-Ball, says “Yes.”

Twigs and Teacups is at 111 S. Cross St. 410-778-1708