Jan 1, 2011

Twin gift shops fulfill a dreamBy Lindsay DowneyNews-Press.com

Among the racks of cards and boxes of stationery at The Paper Merchant lies a dream that began on the north shore of Long Island.

As she wandered her favorite paper boutique in Huntington, N.Y. more than three decades ago – a cozy store called Lion in the Sun – Michele Buonocore imagined opening her own shop one day.

“I used to go in there and think ‘I want a store just like this,'” Buonocore said.

So when she and her husband, George, moved from New York to Naples, they knew they’d start their own paper shop. After all, both come from a long line of entrepreneurs.

Michele Buonocore’s grandmother became the first female real estate broker in Queens, N.Y. many years ago, and her father ran several of his own businesses, including a hotel. George’s family migrated from Italy to Manhattan in 1910 and started a fish market, Pisacane Seafood, which is still in business in New York.

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