Virginia Spigener. Owner of The Wrinkled Egg in Flat Rock.

As a child, Virginia Spigener would travel with her parents from their hometown in Florida for a weekend visit with her brother attending summer camp in Tuxedo, NC. During those trips, the family would visit Flat Rock and shop at the legendary Peace’s Grocery store for supplies and cold drinks.

Although young Virginia had no way of knowing at the time, the Village of Flat Rock and the building that housed Clarence Peace’s vintage grocery store would eventually become two of the most consequential places of her adult life.

She retains vivid memories of stepping through the front door of Peace’s Grocery store during those summer trips. “I would marvel at the idea that Peace’s was one of those great old institutions that would be gone at some point.” Her concern turned out to be unfounded - due in large part to her affection for the old building.

Virginia Spigener has owned and operated Flat Rock’s most iconic business, The Wrinkled Egg, since July of 1990. Her introduction to Flat Rock, however, actually began in the 1970s during those summer visits to see her brother at Camp Mondamin.

Unlike her brother and father (who was a camper at Mondamin in the 1940s), Virginia never attended summer camp. Growing up her passion was riding, and she spent her summers in Florida with her horses. It wasn’t until college that her family’s decades-long connection to summer camps started to pique her interest. “I thought, ‘Oh my gosh, I've made a mistake. I've never had the camp experience. I should go to camp.’” Although it was too late to be a camper, Virginia’s epiphany led her to secure a counselor job at Mondamin’s sister camp, Camp Green Cove, for the summer of 1980.

Virginia enjoyed the experience of camp and living in the mountains of western North Carolina so much that she continued as a camp counselor for a total of nine summers. Eventually, she resolved to stay year-round. “I decided to stay for one winter. And one winter led to one more winter, which led to one more winter.” Virginia was hooked.

Virginia scrambled to find jobs to keep her employed during the camping off-season, and then would quit those jobs to come back to Camp Green Cove each summer. During this time, Virginia’s fascination with Peace’s Grocery continued unabated and she promoted the store she loved to her fellow counselors and friends saying, “Hey, you gotta come see this place. It's just down the road.”

One of her favorite memories was going to Peace’s to buy a bottle of Dr. Pepper from the old style lift-top cooler. “Clarence would take the bottle back and open the top for you. Then he would take a paper towel and he would wipe off the lid and then take another paper towel and wrap it around the bottle. THEN he would hand it to me.” Not exactly your 21st-century convenience store experience to say the least

Virginia also remembers when Clarence Peace died in 1985. One Sunday morning at St. John in the Wilderness they prayed for Clarence because he was ill. The very next Sunday they prayed for him again because he had died. His passing made Virginia worry about the old building at the corner of Greenville Highway and West Blue Ridge Road. “I thought someone's going to bulldoze that building, and it is going to be gone forever.” Her concerns prompted her to go back to camp for her camera and take pictures of the old building. “It was just a great old building, and I wanted to remember it.”

When Virginia first decided to stay in Western North Carolina permanently, she lived in Tryon and worked at a training farm for thoroughbreds. She trained and worked out horses in the mornings, and in the afternoon she worked for the local newspaper. In 1987, she moved to Henderson County and was hired by a friend of a friend named Starr Teel. Starr was supervising construction at Kenmure in Flat Rock and hired Virginia to be an Assistant Construction Manager. When Starr left Kenmure just a few months later, Virginia suddenly found herself in charge of overseeing construction in Flat Rock’s newest and largest residential community.

In the meantime, Historic Flat Rock, Inc. bought the store from Clarence Peace’s estate. They placed a Preservation Agreement on it, and the property was eventually purchased by Starr Teel. Starr began renovating the structure and he invited Virginia to help with the process. She would help him at night tearing out old shelving and removing walls. “I loved being able to work on it,” she says. “It was part of history and I had a lot of great family memories there.” During this time, she noticed how often people would stop and ask about the building. It was as if the structure possessed a certain magnetic attraction that made people want to stop and see what was going on there.

By 1990, Virginia was burned out by the stresses of construction and started thinking seriously about a lifelong dream of owning a retail operation. Her mother Annette loved shopping and the family would frequently stop along the highway during trips to explore cute little shops. Virginia credits these experiences with inspiring her interest in retail and marketing.

Virginia considered opening her own store back in Florida or Alabama, but the allure of the old Peace’s building and a blossoming relationship with Starr convinced her to stay in Flat Rock and start her business career here. Was it fate? Virginia demurs when that question is posed. “I can tell you that I definitely have a very close affinity with that building. I think there are synchronicities and that life has a plan. But I can't say that I would call it fate.”

Originally, The Wrinkled Egg carried English garden tools and gifts. With time, Virginia moved away from gardening and focused more on the gifts - with an eye on the many tourists and camp families that passed through Flat Rock.

First-time visitors to the store frequently ask about the origin of the store’s name. Virginia credits her father George with proposing the name that would eventually become synonymous with “downtown” Flat Rock. He suggested that she choose a name that attracts attention by being a bit mysterious. One of the options he proposed was “The Wrinkled Egg” and the rest is Flat Rock history. Virginia acknowledges that the name still causes confusion to newcomers. “Nobody knows what it means,” she says with a laugh. ”But it attracts a lot of people wanting to eat breakfast.”

Eventually, Virginia and Starr married, started a family, and began the process of creating what would ultimately become known as Little Rainbow Row. The original structure is required to be white by the preservation agreement. Each time they added on to the original white building, however, Virginia painted the new structure a bright vibrant color to help call attention to the expanding row of buildings.

Although no longer married, Virginia and Starr have maintained a cordial relationship and continue to collaborate on various projects along Little Rainbow Row. Together, their efforts over the years have helped create a vibrant and varied center of commerce in the heart of Historic Flat Rock.

The items on the shelves in The Wrinkled Egg have changed and evolved through the years. One year, Virginia never got around to packing up all the Christmas toys and discovered, by happenstance, that the toys sold well throughout the year. In 2008, as the economy went into a nosedive, she observed that patrons were buying fewer gifts for others and more personal items for themselves. As a consequence, she began selling more personal care items, clothing, and fashion accessories. “What we offer changed a lot as the economy changed and as I have better read what our customers want.”

This past July was Virginia’s 30th year in business. Even after all that time and through many changes, she still loves the challenge and gratification of finding items that appeal to her customers. “I enjoy finding things that are unique and different. When a customer gets really excited about finding the perfect gift, then I've done exactly what I wanted to do.”

Most of Virginia’s customers are tourists, but The Wrinkled Egg has a loyal local following that routinely stop by the adjacent Village Bakery for a cup of coffee and then wander into The Wrinkled Egg to say hello, check out the latest merchandise, and perhaps to visit the store’s rabbit and birds. Virginia loves when that happens. “I wanted a place where people would hang out. Clarence Peace had that atmosphere because he had a wood stove and it was the heart of the community. This is not exactly the same, but I think by having the bakery next door, and an interesting store and a friendly staff, then we've kind of done that.”

2020 was a tough year for just about everyone and especially hard on small business owners across the county. The Wrinkled Egg’s sales were down significantly, but Virginia is optimistic about the future - even though so many of us have dramatically increased our online purchases. “I still think people like to touch and feel and experience. And I know that people are itching to get back to things that are normal - like meeting your friends for coffee and laughing and hugging them when you see them. People want to travel. Families want to come here. Summer camps will reopen. I'm very optimistic once we all feel safe.”

For now, Virginia Spigener is enjoying her life in Flat Rock. When not at her store, she still enjoys riding horses, riding bikes, reading, and playing tennis. Best of all, after 31 years at The Wrinkled Egg, she has no plans to slow down anytime soon. When asked how much longer she plans to work, she responds instantly. “Forever. I don't know what people who are retired do with themselves. My passion is work. I love work.”

And her response is the perfect answer for all of us who love Flat Rock and The Wrinkled Egg.

—

Learn more at www.thewrinkledegg.com