Owner Mark Majeski is celebrating his 50th year with Bur-Lers Variety Store in Warren.
By: Maria Allard | Warren Weekly | Published October 28, 2025
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. Nine Mile Road, has stood the test of time. One employee who has kept the store on its feet for the last 50 years is Mark Majeski. He was first hired to work at Bur-Lers in the fall of 1975 as a stockboy and celebrates his golden anniversary this year.
Customers come from Warren, Hazel Park, Royal Oak, Center Line, Detroit and other communities. Majeski believes the store has stayed in business so long from “just knowing your customers and what you’re going to buy. Know your area and where you’re going to get your merchandise.”
“We buy from different companies,” Majeski, 67, said.
Barbara Studevent is a frequent shopper.
“I’ve been in Warren for a few years, and I just happened upon them one day. I call it the old-timey store,” she said. “It reminds me of the old five and dimes. I got my sister going and my friend. I just come and look and see what I could find. I think the prices are great.”
At Bur-Lers, shoppers will find bandanas, square folding chairs, bathroom items, bakeware, dishtowels, coloring books, board games, and dress socks for men. Yarn in various colors is available, as are your favorite snacks, sweatshirts, sweatpants, sewing fabric, Croc shoes, pajamas, medical scrubs, hoodies and much more.
Right now, for instance, is a good time to pick up Halloween decorations. And if you’re looking for that perfect Detroit baseball cap, you just might find it on a shelf. It’s also the place to shop for thread, fedora hats, fleece and lottery tickets.
‘We get regular customers all the time.’
The history of Bur-Lers Variety Store dates back to 1946 when military buddies William Fieldler and Alfred Bourget opened up a new store at 12819 Seven Mile Road in Detroit. It had a soda fountain, and the businessmen sold ice cream for 10 or 15 cents. The name Bur-Ler came from the owners’ last names by combining the letters “Bur” from Bourget and “Ler” from Fieldler.
But because they disliked cleaning up the food afterward, the soda foundation dissolved to make room for a five-and-dime store. At one point, an outside company came in to sell greeting cards for 25 cents each, which helped launch the business. Because the Seven Mile Road store was so successful, Fieldler and Bourget opened the second location in Warren. Several photos of the company’s history are displayed on the walls near the entrance.
Majeski, who grew up in Detroit, started working for the company when he was 17. The Detroit store was sold in 1982. Fieldler and Bourget have since passed away.
“They were both great guys. Both of them were easy going,” Majeski said. “They both had different ways of doing business. One would take care of certain things, and the other would take care of certain things.”
Majeski remembered the business partners also rotated between working at the Warren and Detroit stores.
“They moved merchandise back and forth between each store,” Majeski. “They knew so many people.”
Majeski always had an interest in business.
“As I was working here, they said they would sell me the store,” he said. “They made me a partner.”
When Majeski began working there in the mid-1970s, many families with young children made up the majority of the neighborhood demographic. One popular item of the time — that is still a big seller — were Levi’s jeans. Bur-Lers has racks of jeans in all styles and sizes. Other items were a hit with shoppers.
“Your seasonal stuff always did very well: Easter, Christmas, Halloween,” Majeski said.
And when all kids wanted electronic hand-held games, staff did their best to stock them.
“It was hard getting all that stuff,” Majeski said. “We sold a lot of dolls and games back in the day.”
But those aren’t in high demand anymore. There is still a toy section, but on a much smaller scale.
“We cut way back on them,” Majeski said. “We had to change with the times.”
Majeski has certainly witnessed the store’s ups and downs over the years. One depressing time was the state’s recession from 2008-09.
“Sales really dropped,” Majeski said. “It was very depressing.”
That’s around the time Bur-Lers began stocking pet supplies, including food and toys for dogs and cats, birdhouses, chicken feed and wild bird seed. It started slowly with the store just having a few pet items, but then sales escalated.
“Pet supplies are a huge change. For us, that is big business,” Majeski said. “It took a while, but it took off. We get regular customers all the time. I never believed in a million years how much we sell.”
Bur-Lers remained open during the COVID-19 pandemic. Majeski said during that time the store enjoyed “two record years in a row” regarding sales.
“I think we gained a lot of customers during COVID,” he said.
People who have moved away and former workers still come back to see how the store is doing. Fifty years later, Majeski continues to enjoy meeting customers and working with his employees. He’s still enthusiastic about going to work every day and providing shoppers with what they need.