The Five and Dime Made Great 'Cents'

From their beginnings in the late 1800s and early 1900s, the Five and Dime became a staple of American culture. They were reliable stores where you could purchase just about anything you might need on a day to day basis.

Concord was fortunate to have three of the best known Five and Dime Stores on Main Street. I spent a great deal of my weekly allowance and any money I might earn from my paper route, supporting these well-established shopping meccas.

J.J. Newberry was located where the Main Street CVS is located. Sometimes I wonder if, beyond the great CVS staff, that the reason I have all my prescriptions filled there is because of the fond memories I hold of Newberry's?

When you entered Newberry’s you had to walk slightly uphill over the creaky wooden floors. They were always immaculately clean but they did squeak as you headed to the dozens of bins that were filled with everything imaginable.

If I needed to locate a particular item, I had only to ask Mrs. Pinard who seemed to have a photographic mind that knew instantly the aisle and how far back the desired purchase might be found. 

To the right as you entered were the magazines and I spent a fortune buying and reading Photoplay, Modern Screen and Motion Picture.

Located nearby was the luncheon counter with the swivel stools carrying on the squeaky tradition of the floors. I don’t know whether oiling them would have helped but the squeaking came to represent someone sitting down to order or someone getting up to leave after tasting the delicious food turned out by Maude and Millie.

It seemed as though Maude and Millie had been there forever. Before you even sat down, if you were a regular, they had a drink in front of you and were writing down your order. My personal speciality was a Coca-Cola and a heaping plate of homemade French fries which they cut to order.

You knew it was the holiday season when Newberry’s opened the downstairs area, which was filled with an array of every holiday decoration you’d need or want.

Up the street, where the Old Europe Restaurant is now located, sat S.S. Kresge’s, the smallest of the three Five and Dimes in Concord.  They didn’t have the sloping or squeaky floor but they had great grilled hot dogs served at their luncheon counter as well as amazing grilled cheese Sandwiches.

F.W. Woolworth, located across the street from Newberry’s was the place to find the best selection of comic books.  While their luncheon counter had amazing hot fudge sundaes, it was for the comic books that I usually dropped in.

The comic books were located in the back right hand corner of the store near an exit that took you out into an alley way between the back of the store and the former Conn Theatre, which was then the American Legion.

Whenever anyone would stop to look at the dozens of brightly colored comics, making the difficult decision as to which to buy, the store’s manager would magically appear and stand, arms crossed, a stern look on his face, and watch.

“This isn’t a library kid”, he’d warn. “Select your book and get the hell out.”

Apparently some kids had tried to sneak comic books under their coats and leave by the back door, so if you failed to make a purchase and exited through the rear, he would walk into the alley way and watch you.

When the beautiful railroad station was torn down and the Capital Shopping Center built, Concord briefly had two Newberry stores.  The building that now houses the Burlington Coat Factory was the site of the second store. Within a short period of time, however, the shopping center stored was redubbed Britts.

Britts was an upscale division of Newberry’s that existed from the early 1960s until the 1980s.

WKXL seemed to endlessly play the Britt’s theme song which went something like:

            You’ll fall in love with Britts

            The store that has that modern tone

            All the famous name brands that you’re proud to own

            are here at Britts

            Britts is always just a little bit ahead

I stopped in once or twice but was not impressed with the brightly lit, modern store that seemed to stretch on forever. It seemed cold and impersonal and the help seemed lost amongst the fancy fixtures.

One by one the Five and Dimes on Main Street closed and an era came to an end.  However, decades later, I still have some of the ornaments purchased at those relics of the past and they’ve survived with nary a scratch. Durable - just like the memories of those places that seemed to have it all.