Jan 14, 2013

Brookline News and Gifts a Classic Five and Dime FeelBy Nate HomanBrookline.Patch.com

Brookline, MA – When you walk into Brookline News and Gifts, you step into the classic five and dime store of yesteryear. The crowded shelves are almost over run with magazines, gift cards, gift wrap, board games, toys, watches, cigars, pipes, sunglasses, shot glasses and all kinds of witty collectable gifts.

Folks come in for their scratch tickets and stay for the conversation with Sam Patel, whose family purchased Brookline News and Gifts from the original owner five years ago. “It feels like a real village around here,” Patel said. “This is a great community.”

Cliff Bouvier, a barber up the street at Crew International stopped in for his lottery tickets and talked about the old days of Brookline News and Gifts. “Everybody used to come in here from the Winter Hill Gang to Bill Clinton,” Bouvier said. “This shop is a real landmark in town.”

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