New York Congressional District #4

District Success Story:
Turn of the Corkscrew Books & Wine

Peggy Zieran and Carol Hoenig are co-owners of Turn of the Corkscrew, Books & Wine. The two met during their time working for a large bookseller on Long Island and became fast friends as they had a shared dream. For years they spoke about owning a small, friendly, independent bookstore in a village where they could provide the community with a welcoming ambience while patrons purchased and discussed books.

Early in 2014 Peggy and Carol started working on their business plan, financial projections and locating the perfect home for their bookstore. “We saw that independent book stores were making a comeback,” said Ms. Hoenig, the company’s president, but however strong the market seemed, the women knew they needed to change the bookstore model and that they needed another income stream. A wine bar could provide that.

The partners visited the Farmingdale SBDC to work with Business Advisor Walter Reid in accessing the capital they needed. Walter worked with them on finalizing their business plan, ensuring financial projections were reasonable, and helped them submit the loan application to the SBA. In October 2015 they opened the doors of Turn of the Corkscrew, Books & Wine in Rockville Centre.

With Walter’s assistance, Turn the Corkscrew, Books & Wine was awarded a $210,000 SBA small business loan and the owners have been successful in creating 10 new jobs. Turn of the Corkscrew, Books & Wine has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Newsday and the Long Island Herald, and has been featured on Fox5 news.

Neither Peggy nor Carol really knew what to expect when they started their journey, but they are grateful for how it has turned out. They already have regular customers, host several book discussion groups, and have many scheduled events for the New Year. When they think of their mission statement, “it is apparent we are on the right track, but we couldn’t have done it without the help of so many, including Walter’s guidance.