Reliving the Days of the 5 and 10 Store

Tucked away in a Northern NH town, nestled in the valley of a popular ski resort sits a blast from the past.

Since 1939 The North Conway 5 and 10 has been serving locals and tourists of the Mount Washington Valley. Selling everything from hairpins to tin toys, t-shirts to homemade fudge, the store has been a very deep seeded part of this town's tradition long before it bore the name it still carries to this day.

"The store opened in May of 1939, previous to that it was the general store, it was the post office, and in 1892 it was George Eastman's store. They had fishing licenses, taxidermy; you name it they had it in here. "

Shirley Alcott and her husband Phil have been running the store since 1977 when they moved down from Canada looking for a better life in this quaint New England town. Owning a store was not what they originally had in mind.

"So we came down here hoping to get into a printing business. That all fell through, and we went to a couple of real estate offices, didn't have much money at all. And we said what is available in town that we could possibly afford. And he starts showing use these motels and I was like no, this is not what we can possibly afford and then this little store turned up. We walked in the door, we looked at each other and we said yea we can do this. So we bought the store and there was no looking back right from that day."

They bought the business from Lillian Sweeny, who had taken it over from her husband in 1946.

In the 32 years the Alcott's have been in charge, not much has changed. It still has the same squeaky wood floors, the same candy counter; as a matter of fact the only things that likely have changed are the prices. Shirley says they don't sell much these days for 5 or 10 cents.

"You know they'll come in and they'll ask is everything in here 5 and 10 cents? And we'll say well it used to be in 1939. It's just, it's just a real piece of the past this store I think. You can come in here and you can forget about the world outside and things are the way they used to be in better times. I've had so many people say that, I can come in here and share things that my family used to share when I was a kid. I think it just matters to people. "

It matters so much to people that Shirley applied for the building and the business to be listed on the National Register of Historic places. Not an easy task. The application process was long and involved, but with help from the Conway Historical Society, the hard work paid off. In March of 2004 they were added to the prestigious list, ensuring that the building at least, would stay as it is for future generations, a big relief to Shirley.

"We were just flying high, it was just wonderful. It really all was worthwhile. It just mattered. And now no one can touch this building, which truly, truly matters to me. I hate to see all these old buildings disappear, but I know I know that this one isn't going to disappear. It may not always remain a 5 and 10, I hope it does, but that may be impossible, but it will be here. "

For now, Shirley and Phil continue with the day to day operations, Shirley doing a bulk of the work. Semi-retired Phil, is still in charge of making their famous homemade fudge and both look to the future, hopeful that when their time is done, another will take over and keep the quickly fading tradition of the 5 and dime store going.