When Wendy Burke moved here in 2022, she never, ever intended to open a shop. She had owned and operated a shop in Bradenton, Fla. for more than three years, and when she moved to Mineola, she thought that she had retired.

However, when her friend and now store’s landlord George Jones – himself a shop owner – got wind of her having owned a store, he told her that she needed to open one in Mineola. 

Then her husband started agreeing.

“I was like, ‘You people need to get away from me, because I am not doing this. I am not doing this…. And so here I am,” she said with a laugh.

Her homey, clean and cool store, called “Wen & Bee’s” but known as “The Corner Store,” opened across from the theater in downtown Mineola on May 4. Somewhere between a niche shop, a pet accessory store and an old-fashioned soda pull, the Corner Store is a collaboration between several locals. The store sells rare/old-time sodas and candies, handmade car fresheners, jewelry, custom spice combinations and much more.

“We’re just taking it slowly, trying to bring things in, get our name out there, (and) hope that people realize they can walk by,” she said.

The Corner Store also features massages from Magic Fingers Massage, which is a separate business housed in the same space.

“As much as (she) can,” Burke has made a point of stocking her store with things that are made locally, from a small business, or Fair Trade (which, according to her, means that the items are in support of oppressed women in Third World countries). In all she does, Burke says that her business is not about the money, the business itself or her own enterprises.

It’s about the people.

“I love when people come in. I mean, that’s the main thing, is the customers, the customers, the customers,” Burke said. “I love peeps that come into my store…. I want them to feel welcome in here, I want them to feel at home.”

To contact the shop, call 941-807-9133, email wenandbees@gmail.com, or check out their Facebook page at @wenandbees.