Phil Warnke News Today

Two store closings this year means Iowa only has ONE Ben Franklin store left!

Overheard in the News for Aug. 8, 2023: "We were just working a case -- they had this poor elderly couple coming and going for over two years. We estimate

The Ben Franklin store name might not mean much to young adults, but older generations of shoppers drive to Sheldon from cities such as Omaha and Sioux Falls.

The Ben Franklin store name might not mean much to adults in their 20s or 30s, but older generations of shoppers drive to Sheldon from cities such as Omaha and

There will soon be just one Ben Franklin store left in Iowa. Fifty years ago, there were more than 100 Ben Franklin stores in the state, but there's a

Two store closings this year means Iowa only has ONE Ben Franklin store left!

Two store closings this year means Iowa only has ONE Ben Franklin store left!

Two store closings this year means Iowa only has ONE Ben Franklin store left!

WINTERSET, Iowa (AP) — Life at the corner of John Wayne Drive and West Court Avenue will change for the first time in 83 years when the owners of Winterset’s Ben Franklin variety store retire five days before Christmas.

In their heyday, in the 1970s, there were 2,500 stores nationwide and more than 100 in Iowa.