Mapes 5 & 10 Stores

Ah the store from my youth. Seriously I remember back in the day when I was able to buy 3 candy bars for a $ 1 and purchase an endless supply of Garbage Pail Kids (another review that makes McThrill feel old!). I also remember getting housed in Street Fighter 2 when they used to have an arcade. Mapes has definitely been through a lot over the years. I’ve seen it branch out out into seperate Card and Toy stores, expand out over to Ardmore, and close some of it’s franchises due to the weakening economy. But at least through it all It’s managed to stay a timeless mom and pop store.
I know that mom and pop fairly well since their the grandparents of two of my friends. And their one of the sweetest old couples out there. Overall I’m kind of mixed of the presentation of the store. They needed the three stores back in the day because of how much random things they sold. But now with all the housewares, foods, cards/​noveltys, and toys under one roof it gets kind of cluttered and compacted. Some of the things are a little too expensive, while some of the prices are right on. But regardless it does feel kind of good to give to family business.

I like the convenience of having a home and garden store within walking distance. If I ever need a hammer or thumbtacks, this orginal 5&10 has it all– knitting supplies, barbeques, trash bags, anything related to home living.
The only problem? It’s usually twice as expensive as say a Home Depot (often the catchall for any nonchain family business) and there is just so much inventory stuffed into every nook and cranny I doubt even Mr. Mapes knows everything in that store. Staffed by local «Narb» teenagers, it’s kind of run like a free for all. Getting a question answered is impossible, much like getting a teenager to take a shower.
But if you needed a teenager to shower and the shower head broke you could walk here and buy one for three times the cost as one at Target, which you would have to drive to and spend money on gas.