The West Concord 5 & 10 Variety Store – It’s Five and Dime Time!

I have the hardest time finding orange flame shaped light bulbs for the post lamp outside the Hacienda so I was delighted to be able to pick up some when I was doing reconnaissance work at the West Concord 5 & 10 Store on a rainy Tuesday. (Like all of the places I cover for Retro Roadmap, I try my best to support them by actually buying something and not just taking photos, and since this was on my list of things I needed to get anyways, it was a bonus!)

The West Concord 5 & 10 was established in 1934 and is the place to go to when you can't find something in the "big and boring chain stores". They have hardware items, stationery, bike supplies, toys, gifts, crafty things, sewing notions, kitchen gadgets, school supplies, candies, and so much more.

(of course they carry all sorts of modern things, but you know me, I like to ferret out the old timey stuff!)

While I was wandering the aisles I overheard a woman ask for plastic cross stitch fabric that she "used to get at K Mart but they don't have it anymore"- sure enough the WC5&10 had it, and the lady working there was glad to show her.

There was also a small gaggle of kids there giddy with their random selections of squonky bike horns, For Rent signs, parachute men and candies. "I love this place!" exclaimed one of the tween boys to his dad, and I rejoiced that the charm of this little store was passed on to a future generation.