Five and dime

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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 Stores

The 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.

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