Did you know: There have been four Standard 5&10 stores?
- The first opened in 1939 at 5435 Geary at 19th Street
- The Laurel Village store on California Street was the second store to open, in 1949. HOWEVER, the store hasn’t always been in its current location:
- Standard 5&10 opened in 1949, at 3445 California (now the location of Bryan’s Grocery,)
- Next they expanded into the old Hickory Pit location at 3473 California (now Bryan’s Meats).
- Third time was the charm, and here they remain at 3545 California Street.
- The third store opened in Tiburon’s Boardwalk Shopping Center in the early 50’s, and enjoyed over 40 years serving Marin customers before closing in 1996.
- The fourth store opened in at 2616 Ocean Avenue in 1959 (formerly Mercury 5&10), but because of competition from Stonestown, the Lakeside Village store never could get off the ground.
The California Street store is the last Standard 5&10 remaining, but we’re delighted to continue for 75 years, and we look forward to many more to come.
Standard 5&10 is proud to remain a family-owned and operated business; all four stores have always been owned and managed by only two families; Simon Kapstein, Simon’s son Bob Kerner, Guenther Leopold, Guenther’s son Jeff Leopold, and his wife Michelle. The store is a real mom & pop store.
The store recently underwent Ace Hardware’s Helpful 101 Certification process, and Standard 5&10 Ace received a 97.2% helpful score by 210 customers (passing score is 80% with 100 customers minimum surveyed).
Standard 5&10 is included in Amy Tan’s book The Joy Luck Club.
References to 5&10/Five and Dimes in songs include:
- Love At The Five And Dime by Nanci Griffith
- Five and Dime by Joshua Radin
- Summer of ’69 by Bryan Adams
- It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas by Johnny Mathis
- Five and Dime by Port O’Brien
- I Found a Million Dollar Baby (In A Five & Ten Cent Store) by Bing Crosby
- Raspberry Beret by Prince
Famous cinematic moments including Five and Dimes include:
- Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean (Karen Black, Kathy Bates, Sandy Dennis, Cher, directed by Robert Altman)
- Breakfast at Tiffany’s (Audrey Hepburn, George Peppard) “Hey, did you ever steal anything from a Five & Ten?”
