Goodnight sells Beanie & Cecil shops

Ex-managers buy two; one will close

After more than a decade selling designer clothes, Leah Goodnight has sold two of her three Beanie & Cecil stores and will close the third this weekend.

The boutiques in the Cameron Village and North Hills shopping centers in Raleigh are known for designer apparel and have helped draw other specialty boutiques to the area. The other Beanie & Cecil is in Wilmington.

Goodnight sold the Wilmington and Cameron Village stores to their respective managers last month. Both will continue to operate under the Beanie & Cecil name. Saturday is the last day for the North Hills store.

Goodnight, 37, declined to say how profitable the stores are or how much was paid for them. She said that she did not decide to sell because business was bad.

"The stores have been great," she said. "It's just that it's been 13 years in this business, and I've got a 2-year-old, so it's just a personal change."

She's also helping her parents, Jim and Ann Goodnight, with their project. The Goodnights are building a $70 million hotel on the campus of SAS, the Cary software company that Jim Goodnight co-founded.

Leah Goodnight is in charge of the hotel gift shop. "It's a very modern hotel with all natural fabric, wood and stone and glass," she said. "I think the theme of the gift shop will be similar."

Leah Goodnight said that the transition from one project to the next has been easier than she expected. "It's really been the best thing I've ever done," she said.

The first Beanie & Cecil opened in Cameron Village in 1992. The Wilmington store opened in 1996, and North Hills in 2002.

Beanie & Cecil helped Cameron Village transition from large department stores to the small specialty stores it is known for today, property manager Lynne Worth of York Properties said.

"She attracted a certain age group of both shoppers and other retailers that were very fashion-forward," Worth said.

It's 'my baby, too'

The new owner of the Cameron Village store is Alexandra Henriquez, who worked eight years as a general manager at Beanie & Cecil in Wilmington and Raleigh. She said buying the store was a no-brainer.

"I just didn't want her to give it to anyone else," she said. "It's kind of my baby, too."

Henriquez temporarily closed the shop last month for a renovation that included new hardwood floors, curtains and upholstery. It has re-opened.

"I was so jealous when I first saw it," Goodnight said. "I was like, 'I want my store back.' "

Henriquez said she plans to keep the store's inventory and atmosphere pretty much the same.

"I took the top-selling lines and designers from both of the Raleigh stores and am combining them into one store," she said. "And I'm always looking at bringing in new designers."

Goodnight said she decided to close the North Hills store because neither manager was able to buy it and she didn't want to sell it to a competitor.

North Hills spokeswoman Charlotte Ellis said the center is in negotiation with a retailer to replace Beanie & Cecil, but a lease has not been signed.