Frank Winfield Woolworth | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1852-04-13)April 13, 1852 |
| Died | April 8, 1919(1919-04-08) (aged 66) |
| Resting place | Woodlawn Cemetery |
| Education | Watertown Commercial College |
| Years active | 1873−1918 |
| Known for | FoundedF. W. Woolworth Company (nowFoot Locker) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 3 |
| Relatives | Charles S. Woolworth (brother) Barbara Hutton (granddaughter) Seymour H. Knox I (cousin) |
| Signature | |
 | |
Frank Winfield Woolworth (April 13, 1852 – April 8, 1919) was an American entrepreneur, the founder ofF. W. Woolworth Company, and the operator ofvariety stores known as "Five-and-Dimes" (5- and 10-cent stores or dime stores) which featured a selection of low-priced merchandise. He pioneered the now-common practices of buying merchandise directly from manufacturers and fixing the selling prices on items, rather thanhaggling. He was also the first to use self-servicedisplay cases, so that customers could examine what they wanted to buy without the help of a sales clerk.[1]
Woolworth was born inRodman, New York to John (1821–1907) and Fanny (née McBrier; 1832–1878) Woolworth; his brother was entrepreneurCharles Sumner Woolworth (1856–1947).[1][2] His parents were devoutMethodists and sympathetic to the Northern side during theCivil War, and they raised their sons in those beliefs.[3] His paternal ancestors wereEnglish farmers who left England around 1665 settling in theMassachusetts Bay Colony area. Meanwhile, his mother's parents, the McBriers, wereScots-Irish fromCounty Down, Ulster, who had come to the United States in 1827.[4]
At age four, Woolworth told his parents that he would become a peddler like those who sometimes came calling. He and Charles would play "store", and Frank would set up merchandise to sell to his brother.[3] Woolworth finished his schooling at age 16, yet he was unfit to begin working in any legitimate store with only basic knowledge and no experience. He applied to many shops in the area, every time being rejected.[3] He attended a business college for two terms inWatertown, New York, with a loan from his mother.[3]
In 1873, Woolworth worked as a stock boy in a general store called Augsbury & Moore's Drygoods in Watertown,[3] and his experiences there served as the starting point to his own business venture and innovations. He was considered to be an inept salesman[3] and was given jobs such as washing the windows, where he found a creative niche arranging the store's front display; his work was so impressive that his boss assigned him that role.[3] Typical business practices of the day was that a few of each type of item be displayed on a counter if small and behind if not. Clerks were responsible for obtaining what the customer wanted and making the transaction.[5] From exposure to this Woolworth developed the notion that goods should sell themselves, something which became increasingly prominent in his retail career.[3]
Under the employment of Moore & Smith, Woolworth had an opportunity to sell a large surplus of goods. He organized a store in Great Bend that opened on February 10, 1878, but sales were disappointing; the store failed in May.[3] Accounts differ on the genesis of the five-and-dime concept. Gail Fenske suggests that Woolworth had heard of a "five-cent counter craze" while questioning his own sales ability at his first job.[6] Jean Maddern Pitrone suggests that the idea was conceived after a travelling salesman told Woolworth of stores in Michigan with five-cent counters.[7] Plunkett-Powell suggests that Woolworth overheard the concept during a discussion between William Moore and a young man who had opened his own cut-rate goods store.[3]
Woolworth borrowed $300 (~$10,124 in 2024) and opened a five-cent store inUtica, New York, on February 22, 1879.[8] It failed within weeks. He opened his second store in April 1879 inLancaster, Pennsylvania, where he expanded the concept to include merchandise priced at ten cents. By 1889, Woolworth had twelve thriving stores and in ten years, from 1879 to 1889, his sales had increased by 240%.[9] By 1900, Woolworth's chain had grown to fifty-nine stores, with sales of over $5 million (~$151 million in 2023). Woolworth's desire for control stretched further than just the bounds of his company. Wanting to implement his ideas on a much larger scale, F. W. adopted a policy of acquiring smaller chains of his competitors. This policy, combined with “the development of the five and ten cent idea, the exploitation of the idea through a chain, [and] the squeezing out of his middleman competitors for the purpose of controlling goods manufacturing and distribution” resulted in the dominance of the low-priced segment of the American retailing industry.[3]
In 1911, theF. W. Woolworth Company was incorporated with 586 stores. In 1913, Woolworth built theWoolworth Building inNew York City at a cost of $13.5 million (~$306 million in 2023) in cash. At the time, it was the tallest building in the world at 792 feet.[10]
Woolworth often made unannounced visits to his stores, where he would shoplift items to test the staff's attentiveness. Managers or clerks who caught him doing so were sometimes rewarded with promotions.[11]
On June 11, 1876, Woolworth married Jennie Creighton (1853–1924). They were the parents of Helena Maud Woolworth McCann (1878–1938), Jessie May Woolworth Donahue (1886–1971), and Edna Woolworth Hutton (1883–1917), who died from suffocation due tomastoiditis.[12] Rumors have persisted that she died by suicide.[3] She was the mother ofBarbara Hutton. Frank and Jennie's marriage was a happy one and Jennie regretted the demands that financial success put on Frank's time with her.[13] By 1916 she displayed the symptoms of advanced dementia.[14]
Woolworth died of septic shock from an infected tooth on April 8, 1919, 5 days before his 67th birthday.[15] At the time of his death, Woolworth wasworth approximately $76.5 million or the equivalent of1⁄1214th of the USGNP.[16] His company owned more than 1,000 stores in the United States and other countries and was a $65 million ($804,328,215 in 2009 dollars) corporation. He died without signing his newest will, so his mentally handicapped wife received the entire estate under the provision of his older 1889 will.[17][18] When she died in 1924, her estate was worth $57.5 million.[19]
Woolworth is interred in theWoodlawn Cemetery in the Bronx, New York City.
In the 1960s, after Woolworth's death, the company began expanding into various individual specialty store concepts, including sportswear, which led to the development of the Foot Locker sporting goods store in 1974. For a while there was a chain ofdiscount stores calledWoolco. By 1997, the original chain he founded had been reduced to 400 stores, and other divisions of the company began to be more profitable than the original chain. The original chain went out of business on July 17, 1997, as the firm changed its name, initially to Venator, but in 2001 adopted its sporting goods brand,Foot Locker, Inc. In 2012 the New York Stock Exchange celebrated Woolworth's 100th anniversary. The UK stores, under separate ownership since 1982, continued operating under the Woolworth name after the US operation ceased and by the 2000s traded asWoolworths Group. The final UK stores ceased trading January 6, 2009.[22] The UKWoolworths brand was bought byShop Direct Group in the UK and operated online only but it ceased being operated as Woolworths in 2015.[23] Woolworth stores continue to operate in Germany.[24] Although both theAustralian and theSouth African companies took their names from Woolworth's US and UK stores, they have no connection to the F.W. Woolworth Company.[25][26]
Mrs. Franklyn Laws Hutton, who was Edna Woolworth, daughter of F. W. Woolworth, was found dead in her apartment at the hotel Plaza. ...
The family of Frank Winfield Woolworth made public yesterday the fact that Mr. Woolworth's death came so suddenly that he did not have time to execute an extended will upon which he had been long at work, making many ...
In a document of fewer than 200 words, written thirty years, ago when he was a poor man, Frank W. Woolworth, originator of the five and ten cent stores, willed his estate of close to $30,000,000, in full to his wife.
