Wisconsin Bookstore Quenches the Thirsty Mind

This past summer in Richland Center, Wisconsin, Jodee Hosmanek was contemplating a career change. She wanted to leave her position as a high school chemistry and biology teacher, but didn't have a game plan. On August 17, she decided she was going to pursue her lifelong dream of owning a bookstore. By August 27, she had bought the building to house it. And on November 24 she opened Ocooch Books & Libations, a bookstore that also sells microbrewed beer, wine, and single malt scotch. The store takes its name from the hills in the area, which were dubbed the Ocooch Mountains, according to a Northwest Territory Map from 1833.

In the days before she opened the bookstore, Hosmanek went on a frenzied information-retrieval campaign, which included calling Upper Midwest Booksellers Association Assistant Director Kati Gallagher, whom she found on the Internet. Hosmanek asked if it was crazy to buy a bookstore with little preparation and no experience. Gallagher allayed her fears and answered dozens of questions, said Hosmanek. She also called booksellers in the general area of Richland Center setting up times to meet in person. "I made a few new friends and a few new mentors. People were wonderfully helpful."

Her new mentors advised her to develop a significant sideline business to complement the books. When Hosmanek looked at a building for sale that contained a flower/wine shop, she knew she found the perfect counterpart -- recession-proof booze. The building itself was also ideal: It's over 100 years old with hardwood floors, a tin ceiling, and old, wavy glass windows. Hosmanek has her first tasting scheduled for February 5 and will feature a tasting in conjunction with a reading in June with authors Adrienne Lewis (Coming Clean, Mayapple Press) and Judith Kerman (Plane Surfaces, CCLEH).

"Customers were pouring in over the holidays," said Hosmanek, whose bookstore is about 60 percent books and 40 percent libations. "They appreciate the combination. And they're definitely interested in having a little shop downtown so they don't have to drive to a strip mall." When customers walk into the 1,100-square-foot space, the first thing they see are the books along with a Book Sense Bestseller List display on an antique table, but then they'll notice the wine in back and often pick up a bottle of wine or a six-pack along with their books, explained Hosmanek.

She carries about 50 or 60 types of specialty, hard-to-find, and local wines and about 15 different beers. Hosmanek said a top-selling brew is the 90-minute Indian Pale Ale from Dogfish Head Brewery, whose Web site (www.dogfish.com) suggests it should be "savored from a snifter." Hosmanek said, "People like to buy it because it's nine percent alcohol, which is high for a beer. It's like getting two bottles in one. It packs a wallop."

Ocooch Books & Libations has one more atypical sideline -- handspun yarn. In addition to being a retired high school teacher and registered nurse, Hosmanek is also a knitter and spinner. She's part of a local spinning group named the "Ocooch Moutain Spinning Crones," and they asked her to carry yarn at her store. So now she sells skeins she spins herself from her own tiny flock of "gramma," (as in grand ma) sheep. "They're elderly," explained Hosmanek.

With two months of bookselling under her belt, Hosmanek said, "I'm very happy to be here," adding, "I hope I’m not slurring. My husband says if the world goes to hell, we're all set -- we've got books and booze." --Karen Schechner