A Missouri five-and-dime holds its own with novelties
One of the last five-and-dime stores in the United States can be found in Branson, Mo., where variety and novelty keep customers coming back.
Owner Steve Hartley stands next to a jukebox in Dick鈥檚.
Courtesy of Branson Tri-Lakes News
Branson, Mo.
鈥� A local, slice-of-life story from a Monitor correspondent.听
Sitting on Branson鈥檚 historic square, a store harks back to an era when families loaded the station wagon and drove to town on Saturday. The store sells 鈥渄ry goods鈥� from decades past such as 鈥渟ewing notions,鈥� 1940s starlet paper dolls, dainty handkerchiefs, wax lips, and lye soap.
This year, Dick鈥檚 celebrates its 50th anniversary. It鈥檚 one of the last five-and-dime stores in the United States.听
Started in 1961 by Dick and June Hartley, the store is now run by their son, Steve, who continues his late father鈥檚 dream of offering a shopping experience as entertainment. Dick鈥檚 woos customers with more than 180,000 different items and novelty d茅cor, such as an extensive framed arrowhead collection and more than 100 World War II-era signed aviation prints hanging from the ceiling.
鈥淵ou have to have heart and a passion to set yourself apart from those box stores because you can鈥檛 compete with their prices,鈥� says Mr. Hartley, who left corporate life in 1993 to join the family business.
Computers don鈥檛 track inventory. Instead, clerks working the floor closely watch what sells and what doesn鈥檛. They ask customers what they like. The store is chaotic and lively.
A grandfather shows his grandson a bag of American-made glass marbles, a potato gun, and a yo-yo. Down another narrow aisle, a tourist fills up a vintage wood, cloth, and metal shopping bag with holiday bubble lights. Still another customer peruses the store鈥檚 250 board games and 30 feet of jigsaw puzzles.
Dick鈥檚 prides itself on obscure items. Hartley scours trade shows for hot sellers such as the 1950s perfume 鈥淏lue Waltz,鈥� cinnamon toothpicks, cap guns, and 20 styles of hair nets in 1960s packaging that sell for 89 cents.
鈥淲e will keep that dime-store image, fully assorted and fully stocked,鈥� Hartley says.