By Maggie Beamguard
Insider Editor
Nana’s Knuk turns two this February, and Rebecca “Nana” Hogan hopes the community will stop by to celebrate with her.
The store, which sells new, used and antique goods, will mark the milestone with a birthday sale, a raffle gift basket and outdoor sales booths on the weekend of Feb. 20-21.
Hogan, known to her family and friends as “Nana,” has three children, 14 grandchildren, 12 great grandchildren and two great-great grandchildren. Since the store opened in 2024, that accounts for one new grandchild, one new great-grandchild, and an entirely new generation of two great-great-grands. But that’s not enough to keep Hogan busy.
The store is owned by Hogan’s daughter, Brenda Lopez, who opened it to give her parents something to do. Hogan loves it. “I can’t stand staying at home,” Hogan said, “I like to stay busy. I’ve worked all my life.”
When she was 3, Hogan’s grandfather set her on a cinder block and instructed her to hand tobacco leaves to him to hang. As a teenager she worked at a hosiery mill. Her favorite job there was folding socks. She enjoyed the camaraderie that came with working life.
Hogan tinkers around the nooks in her store each day. A handful of women provide an extra set of hands when she needs them. She credits Kellee Brower, Tracy King and Sandra Suriowongso with helping her to keep things going.
The nooks and crannies of the shop hold kitschy collectibles, housewares, ceramics, clothing, toys, furniture, tools, lamps, books and art. The unique spelling for “nook” in the store’s moniker simply popped into her head and stuck. It certainly helps convey the store’s eclectic contents.
“To me it’s like Christmas morning every day,” she said. “You just never know what you’re going to get.”
The treasury of miscellany evokes nostalgia for things of old, the things from your grandmother’s house: tins full of cookies or sewing supplies, cross-stitched pillows, butterscotch in candy dishes, decorative Avon bottles and granny-square afghans.
For Hogan, it’s about more than treasure hunting. She finds the greatest joy in the variety of people who come to shop. “I love meeting people. I listen to them. They listen to me.”
Hogan hosts 19 vendor booths, and she expects to have four openings in the new year. Anyone interested in a booth should call her at the store, (910) 220-0681, or, she says, “come on by.”
The shop is located at 4245 Seven Lakes Plaza and is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Over the last two years, Hogan has seen the store grow in popularity.
“Every day is a better day,” she said.
Contact Maggie Beamguard at maggie@thepilot.com.
