Five and dime
Five and dime was a common nickname in the
United States for
five-and-ten-cent stores (also called
5 and 10s), popular in the early to mid-20th century.
These
stores in the century, the
price range of merchandise expanded. Typical items were
household sundries,
toys, and
candy.
Such stores have gone through various price-reference names:
five-cent store,
dime store, and
ten-cent store, for example. Today, the
dollar store occupies a similar marketing niche.
Duckwall's (part of the ALCO-Duckwall retail chain) now brands themselves as a "Variety Store."
Examples of well-known five and dimes include:
*
Alco-Duckwall Retail Stores*
Ben Franklin Stores *
Butler Brothers*
W.T. Grant*
Kresge's *
Kress Stores *
McCrory Stores**
J.J. Newberry**
TG&Y**
McLellan's**
H.L. Green**
G.C. Murphy*
Neisner Brothers("Big N" in later years)
*
Woolworth's *
M.H. Fishman StoresThe play
Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy Dean refers to such a store, as do the songs "Blank Page" by
The Smashing Pumpkins, "
Raspberry Beret" by
Prince, "
Love at the Five and Dime" by
Nanci Griffith, and "
Summer of '69" by
Bryan Adams.
