February 22 – Woolworth's Day

nPostednon February 22, 2016

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Onnthis date in 1878, Frank Woolworth opened a store in Utica, New York.nHe called it “Woolworth’s Great Five Cent Store.” The storenquickly went out of business. He looked about for a better locationnand ended up using the exact same sign to open a store in Lancaster,nPennsylvania. n

nAndnthat store succeeded.

nItnsucceeded so well that, when Frank Woolworth died in 1919, hisncompany owned more than 1,000 stores. And through most of the 1900s,nWoolworth’s grew and grew to be one of the largest retail chains innthe world! n

This is what American Woolworth’s
looks like these days…

nTodaynthere are still Woolworth’s in Austria, Germany, and Mexico, butnthere are no stores with that name still in the U.S. However, one ofnthe divisions of Woolworth’s, Foot Locker, does still exist. Therenare also other stores that were part of the Woolworth’s Group (nownrenamed the Venator Group).

nWhynwas this store so successful?

nFirstnof all, many people like to go to a variety store where they can buyneverything on their shopping list rather than going to a whole bunchnof different stores. And Woolworth’s was the quintessential varietynstore.

nSecond,npeople like a bargain! And Woolworth’s was a five-and-dime store,nwhere you could buys thing you wanted or needed for just five to tenncents. Another name for such a store is a “dime store,” and thesendays such stores are called a dollar store (or, elsewhere in thenworld, a pound shop or euro store or whatever).

nHere are some other ways in which Frank Woolworth pioneered modernnstore practices:

nHen had set prices for items. There was no haggling. That made thingsn much easier for shop owners to hire and trust sales clerks.

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nHen bought merchandise to be sold in his store directly from then companies manufacturing those items. By cutting out any sort ofn “middleman,” Woolworth could charge less for the same items.

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nHen used self-service display cases, so customers could examine the product, readn the package, and choose an item without needing a sales clerk’s help.n That probably meant more shoplifting, but it also meant you neededn fewer, less knowledgeable sales clerks.

(By the way, Woolworth sometimes maden unannounced visits to his stores and shoplifted items. This, ofn course, was a test to see if the store clerks and managers weren being attentive. He sometimes rewarded the managers that caughtn him!)

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In some places, haggling is still common.
Here, in a market in San Francisco, two
women are haggling over the price of a chicken.

nThese days,nall of Woolworth’s innovations are so common it might seem surprisingnthat someone had to come up with these ideas in the first place. ButnI have to admit, I kind of hate haggling over prices; I love justnhaving a firm, fair price rather than having to worry if I paid toonmuch for a silver belt, in Mexico, or if I sold that yard-sale item at too low a price. The mainnproblem with haggling is that it takes a while. Can you imagine hownlong grocery store lines would be if people haggled with cashiersnover the price of each item in their cart???

nAlsonon this date: