Last Iowa Ben Franklin store found in Sheldon
SHELDON, Iowa (KCAU) — Sheldon has many longstanding businesses, but just one can boast of being the only one in Iowa.
Ben Franklin stores started in Boston in the 1870s as Butler Brothers. The name was switched in 1927, and at Ben Franklin's peak, there were 2,500 stores nationwide.
The company filed for bankruptcy in 1996 and just a few stores remained running independently. Today, there is only one Ben Franklin store left in Iowa, and it's here in Sheldon.
Phil Warnke and his wife Lori have owned the Ben Franklin store in Sheldon since 1991.
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'It's a fun place to work, and we sell things you don't find elsewhere,' Phil Warnke said.
There is plenty of stuff to find at the store. Warnke estimates there is around 20,000 items of inventory in the store. Everything like the essentials to things you wouldn't normally find in other stores.
'We try to carry things that are unique, that you don't see in some of the big box stores. And then we try to tailor our store to fit the community,' Phil Warnke said.
While the store serves the Sheldon community, most of the business comes from out of town.
'We have a very loyal base. A group of customers that shop here from town,' Phil Warnke said. 'But about 75% of our business comes from people out of town that travel to the store because they've been in the store prior to it and enjoyed the experience and want to come back again.'
In fact, competitors of the Sheldon Ben Franklin also shop there. Linda Swenson owns Beehive Crafts & Framing in Spencer. She tries to stop in two-to-three times a year and also sends her customers there.
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'I like to come here to get stuff that I don't carry. I send people here to get fabric since we don't have any fabric stores in town,' Swenson said.
Even though the Warnkes have owned the store for 34 years, there is no plan right now to stop.
'So, as we kind of progress in age and abilities, we'll continue to look for options, but we're hoping for the next several years we can continue to be healthy enough to keep going,' Phil Warnke said.
Speaking of Ben Franklin's business from out of town, Phil Warnke said they have people from California, New York, and New Jersey stop in the store when they are in the area.
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