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Owners Doug and Deborah Bentley in the store’s front aisle.
When tackling another big box “warehouse” or frenetic shopping center seems overwhelming — and you need to pick up a lava lamp, dashboard hula girl, rubber chicken, boa, bandana, shaving soap, Styrofoam balls, paper doilies, wooden clothespins, wine glasses, a pink flamingo lawn ornament, Mason jars, iron skillet, hairbrush, a Slinky, pet toy, and a yard of fabric — the Hollin Hall Variety Store is the go-to place.
And that’s just a smattering of the more than 12,000 items that this old-school five-and-dime has sold for 68 years at 7902 Fort Hunt Road in Mount Vernon’s Hollin Hall Shopping Center.
The store’s motto: “If you cannot find it here, you don’t need it.”
Ann and Ben Vennell opened the store in 1958 in the south section of the strip mall and in 1964 moved to its current location. In 2008, when rumors flew that the Vennells were retiring and selling, a “local firestorm” erupted, Ben told a local reporter. Doug and Deborah Bentley, who had a gift shop next door, stepped in and bought it.
“It’s not going to change,” Doug promised. And not only did its friendly 1950s ambience not change, they added another room, quadrupling the original store’s size. Most customers love not having to navigate Richmond Highway to shop at Target or Walmart or brave the Beltway to go to a mall.
Mount Vernonite Mary Stauss started shopping at the Variety Store in 1968, especially for toys and sewing and school supplies.
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Braden Lilly, 3, checks out the candy bins. His mother, Rachel, said, “For him, it is an amazing store — his favorite.”
“I did one year’s Christmas shopping totally there,” she said. “I have run the gauntlet of Route 1 and come back to the store for the best picture frames, good kitchen items and baby shower gifts.” Louise Potter, a retired teacher, said, “It’s terrific for teachers— posters, awards, small tokens for prize boxes. It’s a throwback to the Woolworths of yesterday.”
Kay Titerence, River Farms resident, likens it to a museum. “You can find everything you need.” When at the last minute, she needed little girls’ white cotton gloves for a wedding, she found them at the Variety Store.
Everything but Bras
“We’re a variety store. We have a little bit of everything,” explained Bentley. “Shrink a Target to 8,000 square feet, delete the electronics. That’s us.” He brags that his Legos compete with Target’s and Walmart’s. There’s always a seasonal aisle, like summer beach and pool items.
“We sell what sells and what customers request,” he comment-ed. He even sells underwear, including “Granny ones,” referring to their Carole’s Flattering Fit, nylon undies for $4.99. “Those drawers are better than Victoria Secret’s,” quipped Dee Bodkin, an employee.
With a loyal following, Bentley feels the store is on a stable path, but noted that the biggest challenge is Amazon. Millennials shop online and expect two-day delivery, he noted.
But clicking on a website does not provide the physical, visual, olfactory and tactile experience of wandering up and down crammed aisles to browse 360 varieties of “penny candy” and 1,500 bolts of fabric with piñatas dangling overhead. Bing Crosby sang that he met his “million-dollar baby” in a five-and-ten-cent store.
“She was selling china, and when she made those eyes, I kept buying china, until the crowd got wise,” he crooned.
The Bentleys don’t promote the Variety Store as a place ripe for romance, but shoppers can find just about anything else and few leave without buying something.
