Celebrating half a century at Bur-Lers Variety Store

Fedora hats are among the many items sold at Bur-Lers Variety Store in Warren.

Photo by Patricia O’Blenes

WARREN — Walking into Bur-Lers Variety Store on Nine Mile Road in Warren is like browsing at a five-and-dime shop with your grandparents as a kid.

It’s a throwback to the days before online shopping when going to your favorite mom-and-pop shop was a weekly ritual. Bur-Lers still has that feeling with aisles of items featuring something for everyone.

Inside the store, merchandise hangs neatly by categories on the walls, shelves are organized with customers in mind, and the prices are kept low. Everything seems to move at a more relaxed pace when inside the long-standing retailer, which opened in 1961.

Although many department stores have closed, Bur-Lers Variety Store, at 4130 E. N