Ben Franklin

Been going here for about 15 years every summer. The place is great. It has tons of little stuff for kids and all the things you want from a souvenir shop. Candy, rainy day toys, stickers for the car, and crafts fill the store to the brim for shoppers. I can’t wait to get there in August ’16.

This is a classic Cape Cod souvenir store. They sell a TON of different stuff here — everything from t-​shirts to beach gear to classic gifts/​trinkets. Kids really love this store right on Main Street in Chatham.

Old time five and dime. Part souvenirs, part general store and there is always something fun to look at or discover in this bit of everything store.

I don’t usually review places like this. I mean, it’s just a general store. Unless you do something awesome or something super terrible, why would anyone have anything to say about a general store?
Well, they were awesome.
I was in full-​on annoying tourist mode. I desperately wanted to get my friend a horseshoe crab memento. I had gone into every shop looking, with no luck. Seriously, Cape Cod: I see about 100 horseshoe crabs each summer. I never see a single live lobster or starfish. And yet, no one represents the horseshoe crabs in the shops! Come on, Cape! Represent the horseshoe crab! Their blood is like, magical or something!
ANYWAY. Ben Franklin was subjected to my desperate quest. And even though I’m sure it was the most obnoxious request they’d gotten all day, both the guy and girl working there were helpful as could be. The guy – who had to be 16 if he was a day – actually went in the basement to look for anything with a horseshoe crab on it. I mean, I didn’t ask him to or anything. He just offered! How cool is that? You don’t get service like that – at least not where I’m from. And certainly not for something as minute as a horseshoe crab.
Eventually, I had to settle for a lobster necklace. Very cute and at a mega-​reasonable price (as in two freaking dollars! awesome). The girl who checked me out was very friendly as well. She joked with me about the horseshoe crabs and how she felt like they were underrepresented. Then, as one of the zillions of children crashed by us, I asked her if it ever got annoying. Lord knows I would have thrown in the towel ages ago working at a place like this. But she didn’t even lose her smile as she said you just get used to it.
No matter what I need, when I’m in Chatham, I will patronize Ben Franklin from here on out.

I’ve been spending parts of my summers in Chatham, Cape Cod, since before I learned how to speak (aka since I was 12 years old — kidding, since beneath the age of one). And every year, without fail, I make at least one trip to Ben Franklin.
It was my favorite store in downtown Chatham back in the day and it still is. It’s full of toys, Cape Cod clothing (for kids and adults), random Cape Cod memorabilia, a huge craft aisle, a stationary/​pens/​notebooks/​office supplies (aka my favorite things), those racks filled with those little joke things, beach stuff, silly stuff — the list goes on and on. You can get all sorts of things in Ben Franklin.
Benjamin Franklin once said, «A penny saved is a penny earned.» When I was a kid, I would save all my money to spend at Ben Franklin. And guess what? I still do.

This is a great little shop to wander through. It’s filled with all sorts of craft supplies, toys, housewares and souvenirs.
The prices are reasonable, so it’s a good place to drop into if you’re staying on the Cape and realize you forgot something. (Cookware, sunblock, a new toy to entertain the kids, etc.)
As other reviewers have mentioned the store can get packed quite quickly and be hard to move around.

I heart all Ben Franklins stores wherever they re.
This one gets a star less just ’cause it;s mad chaos with people in there. I know it’s not the shops fault, it’s the crazy tourists, but still, a little to annoying even for me.

This place is great to go browsing in for that random little something that you didn’t know you desperately needed. It is hard to take the kids in, though… the toy aisle is packed with Pirate things that my nephew wanted so badly.
It can get very crowded in here, so leave the stroller outside if you can.

A friendly Five and Dime. Our list of purchases include: lobster dinner utensils, kites, beads, night lights, games and tee shirts. Watch out — the place is packed on a rainy day. Prices are good. Staff is helpful.
Who doesn’t love a 5 & 10.