New bookstore delights with stories and wine
When Carol Hoenig and Peggy Zieran decided to open a bookstore in a time where paper is rumored to be diminishing, they took a leap of faith. Both employed by Borders—Hoenig a national coordinator and marketing person and Zieran a general manager—when the retailer closed, the two women allowed their passion for the written word to guide them into the next chapter of their lives, titled Turn of the Corkscrew Books & Wine.
“Not a lot of people know about Henry James’ novel, The Turn of the Screw,” said Hoenig of the store’s name. “The night Peggy came over to my house, we were trying to come up with a name that people would know that we have wine, a café and a bookstore, but we wanted a literary name that would mirror that.”
Originally, Hoenig, who is president and Zieran, vice president, had “Beyond the Book” as a name for the store. Then Zieran noticed corkscrews from all over the world in Hoenig’s kitchen and that’s when she came up with “Taming of the Corkscrew.”
“Something wasn’t right about it, so I said ‘it’s turn of the corkscrew,’ and that made more sense,” said Hoenig of the name. “Some people get it. We weren’t inspired by the actual story because it is a very dark, depressing book, but our gift cards were,” added Hoenig of the cards, which feature a paragraph from the book about an old house and fireplace in the background, which suits the store as it is actually in an old house with a beautiful fireplace in the main room.
The bookstore features several rooms filled with shelves of books, a café where customers can order coffee, cookies, cheese plates and wine and a calendar full of events welcoming everyone from book and sewing clubs to paint and sip nights and author events.
When asked about their favorite books, the owners called upon the classics of great literature.
“My favorite book is so typical, it’s To Kill A Mockingbird,” said Hoenig, who is also a publishing consultant and writer herself. “I always feel like it’s so trite, but I just go back to it.”
As for Zieran, the top two in her heart are Jane Eyre and The Lord of the Rings.
“We’re trying to curate our inventory right now, and we’re listening to what our customers want,” she said. “We do a lot of special orders and we keep a list of books that we know we must have.”
“It’s better than what we imagined because of the reactions we see from people,” said Hoenig. “We never thought we would find an old house to have our bookstore in.”
Turn of the Corkscrew Books & Wine is located at 110 N. Park Ave., Rockville Centre.
For more about the shop’s storied beginning, see A Book (And Wine) Lover’s Paradise.
