Ben Franklin, an old Florida tradition, withers away

By John Barry, Times Staff Writer
In print: Monday, April 28, 2008

Alice Sterling, 74, is getting ready to close her Ben Franklin store in the Park Plaza in Pinellas Park. Sterling began working at the store in 1974 after she moved to Florida from Massachusetts. She bought the store in 1983. She has not said when she will shut the doors for good.
	[MARTHA RIAL | Times]

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PINELLAS PARK

Another Ben Franklin folds for good. It leaves one last, true Ben Franklin in Florida, 400 miles away. So where you going to get one of those bells that sits on the hotel check-in desk and goes Ding! when you smack it? Where you going to get a Grandfather Clock Kit? Or a roll of Admission Tickets? Or a Red Heel Sock Monkey?

The last Ben Franklin store in these parts is going down. You probably don't even know what that is — you probably don't even know what a Red Heel Sock Monkey is.

It happens to be a stuffed toy monkey made from a thick tube sock. (The red heel is the monkey's butt.) Long time ago, there were lots of Sock Monkeys, and many Ben Franklins. They were where women bought buttons and yarn and macrame cord and fabric and little novelty gifts. Florida had 150 of them. Now one true Ben Franklin is left, in Key West.

Alice Sterling is closing her Ben Franklin at Park Boulevard and 49th Street in Pinellas Park. Can't say exactly when. Alice is locked in a war of nerves with her bargain-sniffing customers. She has taken 25 percent off everything. They're waiting for the last day, when they think she'll be forced to take off 50 or 75 percent.

The phone at the store rings all day long.

"When are you closing?"

"Whenever."

That's Alice's stock answer.

"Whenever."

They drive her crazy back.

She's selling greeting cards, two for a dollar.

They buy one.

Alice is 74. The demise of her Ben Franklin is that sad old story you've heard a hundred times. People don't buy yarn and buttons anymore. They buy Chinese-made stuff at the Wal-Mart — or at the Dollar General that opened next door to Alice.

The store opened in 1961. Alice started working there in 1974 and bought it in 1983. People took classes all week long on how to make stuff. Everything is different. But not the way Alice makes change. At most other stores, the cash register automatically figures change. Alice counts it out. She counts out loud as she places the change in the customer's hand — one coin, one bill at a time.

She taught her daughter Debbie, 45, who has worked with her mother at the store since age 12. Alice showed her how to deal with a customer complaint, too.

Debbie: "You swallow it."

Alice: "But don't get me mad."

Alice will henceforth devote her spiritual energies to the Rays and Red Sox, and to wishing every possible biblical calamity on the Yankees.

She's taking one souvenir with her, a small, heart-shaped glass vase. It has hand-painted roses on it.

A customer brought it to the register. Alice figured the 25 percent off. Then she counted out the change.

The customer took the vase, started to walk out, turned back.

"This is for you."

John Barry can be reached at (727) 892-2258 or jbarry@sptimes.com.