Better Days Books & Beers held its soft opening recently at 515 Main St. in Cairo, N.Y. WTEN reported that the store "has been a lifelong dream for owners Maya Prohovnik and Erik Price. The couple, who has lived in Cairo for more than six years, purchased the historic building in October 2025 and have since lined its walls with bookshelves, bookish merchandise, and beverage coolers."
"My husband and I have been crying all weekend," Prohovnik said. "It's so surreal for us."
Better Days Books offers a broad but curated selection of hardcover and paperback books. There is also a dedicated children's section.
"I've always had this dream of being able to help people--both adults and kids--find great books and fall in love with books, and it was really cool getting to do that all weekend," Prohovnik said.
In addition to books, the store also sells a wide selection of canned and bottled beers, wine and cider, including popular upstate brands. Fresh salads, cheese plates, veggie plates and other snacks, all sourced from the Corner Counter in Red Hook, are also available for purchase.
"A lot of people came in and wanted non-alcoholic beers, which was on our list but we just haven't had them in stock yet," Prohovnik noted. "I'm excited to fill out that part of the section as well."