NORTHBOROUGH – Imagine a place where you could do your holiday shopping, get a key copied, select penny candy (for truly one cent!), and buy everything from metal hair curlers and greeting cards to magic tricks, a wading pool, and toys. O’Brien’s 5 & 10 in Northborough had it all for nearly 60 years.
The store was opened in 1953 by owners John and Marjorie O’Brien in the Devine Building, which was built in 1888, at 5-10 West Main Street, right downtown. Three stories tall and at the corner of Route 20 and Route 135, the Devine Building housed apartments along with several other businesses, including a jeweler, insurance company, and music store. Northborough residents and patrons fondly remember walking up the stone steps and through the tall doors to be greeted by the friendly store owners and amazed by the selection of gifts and everyday items.
After 21 years in business, the O’Briens sold the store to Colby and Therese Taylor, who kept the original name. In the evening of October 29, 1979, a catastrophic fire destroyed 5-10 West Main Street and the businesses that occupied it. After the fire, the Taylors moved the store to a former firehouse on Church Street, and then two years later they relocated to the Northborough Shopping Center on West Main Street.
In the changing decades with the rise of chain stores, the charm of O’Brien’s 5 & 10 was that it offered old-time goods and items that were hard to find elsewhere, such as handwoven potholders. According to a Worcester Telegram & Gazette article from 1979, Colby Taylor was willing to purchase goods for customers without knowing whether he would make a profit. He was committed to running a small, independent business and cared to know his customers.
In 1996, Bruce Terry and Sue Wilson bought the store and managed it for 15 years. They were known to order items for customers if something was not in stock. One March evening in 2008, arsonists broke into the store and set fire to it, burning down O’Brien’s 5 & 10 and five other businesses in the building. Even after reopening one year later, business was never the same, largely due to the economy but also as a result of losing momentum with customers after the fire. Terry and Wilson wanted to sell the business to a new owner, but they did not receive any legitimate offers.
On August 8, 2011, O’Brien’s 5 & 10 closed its doors for the last time and now all that remains are memories.
