WORDS + IMAGES
The Five & Dime Store
(An Ongoing Series with New Images & Stories to be Added)
Oberlin, Ohio
Oh, how as a kid, I loved going to the Five & Dime Store. It seems, looking back, that I’d spend hours trying to decide which metal toy soldier should I buy with my few coins, or maybe I should by a truck or model to build? With I were with my mom or dad, or a grandparent, I’d try to talk them into a hot dog or a milk shake at the grill. I miss them. The Dollar Store doesn’t quite cut it.
Not many stores stir up more nostalgic memories for me, than the old-time Five & Dime.
Ben Franklin, G. C Murphy. H. L. Green, J. J. Newberry’s, J. G McCory’s, S. S. Kresge, and numerous local chains. Once ubiquitous, now most are gone Thankfully, a few still exist.
If one didn’t have we wanted, the one across the street probably did. Inexpensive household items and notions, enough toys to keep kids dreaming for hours. Candy, soda fountains and grills, a little bit of everything—plus(!) superior customer service. The staples of everyday life.
Iconic American takes us down memory lane as it visits Five & Dime Stores that still exist, or sadly, just recently closed.
[Note: Ben Franklin Stores are “Ben Franklin” in name only as the company went bankrupt in 1996.]
Dooley’s 5-10 & 25¢
Fredericksburg, Texas
Tim Dooley’s (the owner) grandfather, Charles, opened the Five & Dime in 1923, and ran things until son John took over, and then, Tim. Sadly, Tim closed the store in July of last year (2022). With the closing of Dooley’s downtown Fredericks lost a gem (as well as a tourist attraction). Wholesale price increases and supply chain issues are what Tim says, ended the run. Too hard, to even make until 100-year mark.
Sadly now, the parents who frequented Dooley’s as a kid with their parents will no longer have that experience with their children.
When open, as they did from the very beginning, Dooley’s only accepted cash. No credit.
Ben Franklin
Amherst, Ohio
Sadly, Howard Mowcomber decided to retire and closed the doors on the last day of July, this year (2023). The day before I planned to get some interior photos
The building was built in 1906 and sometime not long after that became a Ben Franklin Five & Dime Store. From the beginning the narrow store has been stocked from floor to ceiling. These days, it is stocked floor to ceiling with the normal Five & Dime items along with model trains, hundreds of model kits, rockets—and fish … lots of fish, and birds too. (That’s the Neptune’s Cellar part.)
In 1971 Howard’s father, who had purchased the store in 1961 decided to close the Ben Franklin if he could not find some one to take over the business. One day, Mowcomber, at age 24, recalls asking his dad, “How about me?” To which replied, “I’ve been waiting for you to say that.”
A smart businessman, Mowcomber sells items that are to find elsewhere, and not often found in a traditional Five & Dime. As part of doing business, he tries to surprise his customers with something new. For example, he brought of storage (there since the early 1990s) several dozen model car kits.
Do you need a beetle to build a home for beetles. He has one to sell. And if you yearn for the 60s, how about Magic Rocks (multi-colored growing crystals for the uninitiated) and Sea Monkeys?
There is a backstory to the story, Mowcomber didn’t buy the store because it was a Five & Dime Store, but because his father stocked fish in the store and the younger Mowcomber’s hobby, just happened to be exotic fish. He bought the store for the fish! The rest, as he says, “Just came along with it.”
By the way, chinchillas, hamsters, and tiny hedgehogs are available if you are in the market for one.
Ben Franklin
Oberlin, Ohio
An Oberlin staple since 1935. Over the years it has uniquely stayed the same while changing. It is just as much relevant today as it has been over the years. And for sure, Oberlin College students, as well as town folks, have had a love affair with the store since the beginning.
Owner, Krista Long took over the store in 2001, merging into it her new and used bookstore, Mindful Books. Even with all of the books – and there are hundreds – the store seems to stock a little bit of everything. Need yarn or fabric? Or maybe school supplies, a toy, a unique gift, or even a house plant. The store has it. Oberlin swag and Custom framing too.