Step back into time at Ben Franklin's varsity shop - and cool yourself off too. They have a bit of everything here: *craft supplies, fabrics, buttons, yarn *all weather jackets *beach supplies, totes, flip flops, chairs, wake boards, umbrellas, sand pails *souvenirs *board games *kitchen ware, linens, pot holders *American flags *candles *refrigerated sodas (in back) And so much more! read more

Ben Franklin - Lobster eating tools, beach towels - Souvenir Shops Near Me - Chatham, Massachusetts

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We enjoyed exploring this little step-back in time; being that we frequented this type of establishment in our youth. This is a compact old-school version of Walmart; with a little bit of everything; and a whole lot of "jimcracks & jeejaws". Even if one doesn't have a "need" for anything; it's a fun place to browse, and be tempted by something unnecessary. read more

You must stop in here when you are in Chatham, MA. It's a fun place for the old and young! They carry Lazy One pajamas which I love, but so much more. So fun to just walk through the aisles and look at all they have to offer. They have everything. I have gotten beach bags, coffee mugs, magnets for my car and of course a lot of pajamas. Just stop in and take a look. Bring cash. Yes, they take credit cards but they charge a percentage for using them. It's a fun place to be a kid again! read more

I do not recommend buying from this store. We went in and bought a box of taffy. Immediately after it was purchased we opened the box and the taffy was hard as rocks!. No worries I thought - I immediately went back into the store to see if we could exchange it for a different box because the taffy we had bought was inedible. They refused to do anything about it - not even an exchange for a box that was "fresh". It's just absolutely ridiculous that they sold me a bad product and refused to do anything about it. What if they had sold me a pack of coasters and 2 were broken - would they not take those back? The young man who wore glasses and said he was the manager refused to give us his name. He was extremely unhelpful and down right rude. Every time he answered a question he answered it with sarcasm . This man was a poor representation of this store/company. Even though we disagreed on the solution i was polite the entire time - but that didn't matter because he verbatim told us to never come back to this store or shop there again. I NEVER WRITE BAD REVIEWS but I absolutely had to share this experience because I have never experienced such poor customer service before. I hope the owners; Patrick Doherty and Barbara Henderson see this so they know how their staff is treating customers. You can buy better candy and souvenirs at many other stores on main st. All of which has fabulous customer service. read more

This Ben Franklin has not changed much at all since I was a little kid. You do get old time charm, but with high prices. Ben Franklin is located towards the end of the Main st. shopping district, there is a large public parking lot behind it. They do carry a good variety of items such as: craft supplies, kitchenware, knitting supplies, scrapbooking items, fabrics, shoe laces and kids toys. They also sell souvenir items such as t-shirts, license plate frames and other goodies. I personally enjoy their souvenir sticker collection, I have a few from here on my retired snowboard that decorates me wall. This spot is unique and worth a browse while you are in town. read more

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The Ben Franklin sits along Main Street in Chatham in a un-presuming location. Most likely a former Hardware to Five 'n Dime. Perfect for the goods inside the Franklin. Inside just about a little bit of everything. Arts & crafts, sewing material, souvenirs, such as hats, t-shirts, magnets, mugs, tchotchke, hardware fix-its, kitchen gadgets, greeting cards, games, toys, and seasonal items. Phew...and yes, a bit overwhelming. Buyer beware: 1) You could find yourself buying a lot of stuff you weren't looking for or don't need. 2) They store charges 4% extra for credit card charges; cash is better, or just don't buy the "stuff" you don't need. Cheers! read more

Ben Franklin - Souvenir Shops Near Me - Chatham, Massachusetts

A MUST DO! 5 STARS! Ben Franklin stores used to be all over the country in small town America. THIS CHATHAM STORE IN CAPE COD IS THE LAST BEN FRANKLIN LEFT IN MASSACHUSETTS. There are now only a Handful of Ben Franklin stores left in the country. The Ben Franklin store is famous for its motto - If we don't have it, you don't need it! Shopping at a Ben Franklin is like turning back the hands of time to a long ago era. Ben Franklin is an old-fashioned variety Five and Dime store that carries local Cape Cod & Chatham merchandise, souvenirs, seasonal items, hardware/housewares (including shade cutting services), stationery craft/art supplies, yarn, fabric/ribbon, jewelry findings, sewing notions, and various sundries. They also carry toys & many other items. They are Open year-round, 7 days a week! You can always find something you need in this store. I always buy something whenever I visit here. The History: Ben Franklin is a chain of arts & crafts & seasonal & five & dime hardware & a lot more stores currently owned by Promotions Unlimited of Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin. They are franchises with individual stores owned by independent proprietors. The chain had its origins starting in Boston in 1877 as Butler Brothers, a mail-order wholesaler selling variety store & general merchandise. In 1927 they founded the Ben Franklin chain. At their peak, BF had 2,500 stores nationwide. Ben Franklin & Woolworths which are long gone were 2 of the originators of the department store concept. Places like Walmart, Target, CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aide & many other brick & mortar stores are updated high tech versions of Ben Franklin. In the age of Amazon; it's a miracle that this store still exists. Now speaking of Walmart Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart, started in retailing by operating a Ben Franklin store. In 1973, Michael J. Dupey converted a Ben Franklin store to start the Michaels chain of craft stores. It's great to be able to shop at this local gem & experience first hand the origins & beginnings of retail. Shop Local & Support & Keep The Ben Franklin Tradition Alive! There's only 1 Ben Franklin left in Massachusetts - Don't Let this store die! It used to be, you had to have Mega Bucks & be really rich to have the Good Life, not anymore. The Game has changed. You've been Upgraded. Now You Can Live Like a King on a Limited Budget! read more

This is a great little shop to wander through. It's filled with all sorts of craft supplies, toys, housewares and souvenirs. The prices are reasonable, so it's a good place to drop into if you're staying on the Cape and realize you forgot something. (Cookware, sunblock, a new toy to entertain the kids, etc.) As other reviewers have mentioned the store can get packed quite quickly and be hard to move around. read more

Ben Franklin - Souvenir Shops Near Me - Chatham, Massachusetts

This is a great place to pick up so many things. Example: crafts, toys, household item, some clothing, Cape Cod sovereigns, and more.

I've been spending parts of my summers in Chatham, Cape Cod, since before I learned how to speak (aka since I was 12 years old - kidding, since beneath the age of one). And every year, without fail, I make at least one trip to Ben Franklin. It was my favorite store in downtown Chatham back in the day and it still is. It's full of toys, Cape Cod clothing (for kids and adults), random Cape Cod memorabilia, a huge craft aisle, a stationary/pens/notebooks/office supplies (aka my favorite things), those racks filled with those little joke things, beach stuff, silly stuff - the list goes on and on. You can get all sorts of things in Ben Franklin. Benjamin Franklin once said, "A penny saved is a penny earned." When I was a kid, I would save all my money to spend at Ben Franklin. And guess what? I still do. read more

Ben Franklin - Souvenir Shops Near Me - Chatham, Massachusetts

Awesome display and variety of items ranging from dish towels, sink drain covers to lobster boxer shorts and scrapbooking goodies BUT the middle aged, white haired guy behind the counter running the register was a complete JERK! I greeted him with a boisterous hello. Zero reaction, not even a hello or eye contact. Truly did not want to give him my $$$, hoping he was just an employee and not the owner. I would NOT recommend this store to anyone!!!!!!! read more

Ben Franklin - Souvenir Shops Near Me - Chatham, Massachusetts

I don't usually review places like this. I mean, it's just a general store. Unless you do something awesome or something super terrible, why would anyone have anything to say about a general store? Well, they were awesome. I was in full-on annoying tourist mode. I desperately wanted to get my friend a horseshoe crab memento. I had gone into every shop looking, with no luck. Seriously, Cape Cod: I see about 100 horseshoe crabs each summer. I never see a single live lobster or starfish. And yet, no one represents the horseshoe crabs in the shops! Come on, Cape! Represent the horseshoe crab! Their blood is like, magical or something! ANYWAY. Ben Franklin was subjected to my desperate quest. And even though I'm sure it was the most obnoxious request they'd gotten all day, both the guy and girl working there were helpful as could be. The guy--who had to be 16 if he was a day--actually went in the basement to look for anything with a horseshoe crab on it. I mean, I didn't ask him to or anything. He just offered! How cool is that?? You don't get service like that--at least not where I'm from. And certainly not for something as minute as a horseshoe crab. Eventually, I had to settle for a lobster necklace. Very cute and at a mega-reasonable price (as in two freaking dollars! awesome). The girl who checked me out was very friendly as well. She joked with me about the horseshoe crabs and how she felt like they were underrepresented. Then, as one of the zillions of children crashed by us, I asked her if it ever got annoying. Lord knows I would have thrown in the towel ages ago working at a place like this. But she didn't even lose her smile as she said you just get used to it. No matter what I need, when I'm in Chatham, I will patronize Ben Franklin from here on out. read more

This place is great to go browsing in for that random little something that you didn't know you desperately needed. It is hard to take the kids in, though...the toy aisle is packed with Pirate things that my nephew wanted so badly. It can get very crowded in here, so leave the stroller outside if you can. read more

I heart all Ben Franklins stores wherever they re. This one gets a star less just 'cause it;s mad chaos with people in there. I know it's not the shops fault, it's the crazy tourists, but still, a little to annoying even for me. read more

Great all around store on main street in Chatham. They have everything in this store. There were two aisles of yarn and sewing, craft supplies. Lots of holiday, seasonal items, which is always good. They have tools, office supplies, candy, food, you name it at great prices. This is really a throw back store to the age of yesterday. Really friendly people working there. Nice Halloween decorations. I wish we had a store like this in our home town. I can't believe this store is located amongst all these high end, high brow stores. I love it. read more

No words, best store in chatham

This is a classic Cape Cod souvenir store. They sell a TON of different stuff here - everything from t-shirts to beach gear to classic gifts/trinkets. Kids really love this store right on Main Street in Chatham. read more

A friendly Five and Dime. Our list of purchases include: lobster dinner utensils, kites, beads, night lights,games and tee shirts. Watch out - the place is packed on a rainy day. Prices are good. Staff is helpful. Who doesn't love a 5 & 10. read more

Check out Benjamin Franklin's in Chatham for a new exciting clothing line coming June 1st 2014!! Cape Cod Shark Bait Tees and Sweatshirts will only be available here on Main Street this season!! Sure, other stores are carrying this new line, but ONLY Ben's will have it on Chatham's Main Street!! read more

Good place to waste some time on a rainy day on the cape. My rating would have been higher, if they didn't change me a 4% surcharge for using a credit card. Just disgraceful. What, charging a huge Cape Cod mark-up wasn't enough? read more

High prices and a 4% service charge on all credit card charges will stop me from visiting. I've been going for over 25 years but I think the service charge for any amount is ridiculous. read more

This is a great store, but is pretty pricey for what they sell. They do not carry deodorant. It has many toys. They have some souvenirs. It's a nice store to visit while in Chatham. read more

Old time five and dime. Part souvenirs, part general store and there is always something fun to look at or discover in this bit of everything store. read more

Been going here for about 15 years every summer. The place is great. It has tons of little stuff for kids and all the things you want from a souvenir shop. Candy, rainy day toys, stickers for the car, and crafts fill the store to the brim for shoppers. I can't wait to get there in August '16. read more

When my sister and I were little my grandmother ("Nana" to us), would take us down the street to the little plaza (large by that era's standards) that my grandfather built to do her shopping at the A&P, pick up her mail, and do her banking. This was in Prince Frederick, MD, which was a sleepy and sweet town full of seniors and the people who worked the farms (mostly corn and tobacco), and kept up the houses, grounds, and vehicles of the seniors who had seen their own children grow up and move out of PF to the "big cities" of Annapolis, DC, and Baltimore. Sometimes we'd stop over to my aunt Libby's (or maybe it was Ibby?), Nana's sister by marriage, and any "kind-of" aunties and cousins, like Mary Jane and her friend who lived in a big old house with lots of windows. These cousins and aunties would be alerted to our visits from College Park during the last Sunday's church service, and those who missed church would learn about our visit in the local paper, because back then my Nana had doings with the news (not sure how), but word of our visits would appear in print the next Sunday. It's funny what small town used to care about, what they'd consider "newsworthy." Anyway, on our trips to the plaza, we'd often stop into the Ben Franklin store. It had wooden floors and this great smell that I can't describe...something like wood shavings and men's aftershave and a little sweet tobacco... BFs was where my Nana bought me my first diary. I wish I still had it but it's been lost to time. The memory of that day, the day I had a place to provide my own commentary on each days' events, a place for dreams that seemed to get that much closer by the simple act of writing them down on paper, and best yet, a place I could shut and lock and protect those thoughts and dreams...that was the best feeling. So, as you may imagine, when I started working in Ipswich MA and saw there was a Ben Franklin, I about lost it. I love that store, even tho it's hundreds of miles from the BF's in Prince Frederick, it still sparks all those memories, and that is seriously priceless. read more

I love Ben Franklin! Although it gets crowded its still a great store to go to they have really cool toys! And they have really cool craft supplies its woderrful. My favorite thing are things called snaps. When they it the ground the make a sort of pop sound.They are really cool. If u ever go u should get some read more

ANYTHING you want, you can find it at Ben Franklin in Chatham!!! Really fun place to shop!!! A great family run store!!! Take time to look, you will be very happy!!!! read more