76-Year-Old Five-And-Dime Continues To Serve Generations In Rhinebeck

RHINEBECK, NY — On a recent early afternoon in March, a steady stream of customers filed into A.L. Stickles Variety Store in the village of Rhinebeck.

The owner, Matthew Stickle, whose grandfather started the store 76 years ago in a different, but nearby, location, took the time to talk with the customers, answer their questions — not necessarily about the store — and ask them about their interests.

Stickle said his grandfather’s favorite part of the store was watching different generations come in to browse and, hopefully, buy something.

He said his grandfather remembered kids who bought candy, and saw them come in with their children.

“‘Over here, son, is where I bought my Matchbox,’” Stickle would imagine them saying. “Oh yeah, I had that toy and that toy.’”

The town of Rhinebeck resident said he especially appreciates the feeling he gets when he finds something to stock in the store that someone else is willing to purchase.

“I like shopping for the older things,” Stickle said, “the hardest-to-find things.”

Indeed, looking around the five-and-dime, there is something for everyone.

At the front of the store are sewing and knitting supplies, including scores of different kinds of buttons. Toward the back on the right are household supplies; on the left, toys and games.

All that one sees adds up to the very definition of notions and sundries.

A customer commented to Stickle that his store had things for sale that you didn’t know you needed until you saw it.

Part of the allure of the store, and one of the biggest reasons people say the store is a “must see,” are the toys — on display, not for sale — lining the walls up near the ceiling around the entire interior.

When Stickle returned to Rhinebeck about 25 years ago from Florida to begin the process of taking over the store from his grandfather, who had emphysema, he started clearing things out and straightening things up.

“The place was in disarray,” he said. “I went down to the basement, and that’s where I’d find the toys.”

They were buried under things, and Stickle would bring them up and show them to his grandfather.

“And I thought, wow, this is pretty amazing,” he said, and he started doing research.

His grandfather would buy the toys back in the day and use a grease pencil to write prices on them.

Once he showed his grandfather a toy truck that had a 25 cent price written on it.

“He probably paid 10 to 15 cents for it back in the 1940s,” Stickle said.

He would tell his “gramp” that a collector’s book said the truck was now worth $250.

“He just couldn’t comprehend it,” Stickle said.

So after a year of cleaning up and finding old toys and games, “I built this priceless museum with toys from the late 40s and early 50s.”

Stickle said running the store has had its ups and downs.

“Retail is not easy,” he said, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic was probably the hardest.

“In 76 years, we never had to close,” Stickle said, until the pandemic deemed his store “an unessential business.” He found a silver lining to the forced closing by taking the opportunity to repaint and spruce things up.

Nonetheless, he continues to make a go of it, with no small thanks to summertime tourism in the Hudson Valley.

“Those months keep the lights on,” Stickle said.

He didn’t disagree with a comment that A.L. Stickle Variety Store was a tradition to many residents and visitors.

“Obviously, for some generations, it’s a new thing,” he said. “For the older generation, it’s set up like a traditional five-and-dime store, which it was.

“It’s very nostalgic for them,” Stickle said. “Generations have passed through here.”

A.L. Stickle Variety Store is located at 13 E. Market St. in the village of Rhinebeck. It’s open everyday except Tuesday.