Its momentum was so great that it was able to open stores using retained profit. Frank had already turned his attention to other projects. Work was nearing completion on his grandest scheme - the world's tallest building in Broadway Place, New York. He had commissioned the top architect Cas Gilbert, and had overseen the work personally, paying for it in cash. Businessmen had flocked to take floor space in the landmark Woolworth Building that dominated the Manhattan skyline.
Also in , the five friendly rival Five-and-Ten Cent Store chains joined forces. The fascias of S. Each became a VP of the F. Woolworth Co. Frank engineered the deal and became the President. By the outbreak of War in Europe, the British chain had opened 44 stores with many more in the pipeline.
The infant resisted its parent's offer to send help from the USA as managers went away to war. In the American company opened its thousandth store in palatial premises on New York's Fifth Avenue. The magnate launched a savings stamp scheme just weeks later, persuading rival dimestores to join him in selling them.
He later funded victory parades for returning servicemen in many towns served by a Woolworth Five-and-Ten. The final years of Frank Woolworth's life were filled with sadness. His beloved wife Jennie fell ill with 'the living death', which is called early-onset Alzheimer's today. His eldest daughter Edna died in tragic circumstances.
She had been trapped in a loveless marriage to the financier Franklyn Laws Hutton. Frank's granddaughter, Barbara, later dubbed the "poor little rich girl" found her mum dead in bed.
Woolworth suffered poor health as he got older. He was given to violent mood swings and often had to take to his bed for weeks on end. Nonetheless his death came as a great shock across the retail world. He passed away just three days after complaining of a head cold as he left his desk in New York. He died from septic poisoning from a tooth infection on 8 April He was 66 and had been preparing for the fortieth anniversary celebrations for his 1, strong chain.
His brother, Charles Sumner Woolworth, became Chairman - a post he held with distinction until , while the Company Treasurer, Hubert Parson, stepped up to become President. Frank would have been pleased by one obituary reading: "He made his money not by selling a little for a lot, but by selling a lot for a little.
Kresge's decision to close all of his stores for the funeral as a mark of respect. In the firm was rocked by another death , as Frank's cousin Fred, MD of the British subsidiary, passed away at just fifty-two years of age.
He had overseen the opening of highly profitable stores. He had a reputation for being firm but fair, setting high standards but also treating the staff generously, with paid holidays and outings to the seaside. A lively and active man, he suffered a stroke on a trip home to the USA and never fully recovered.
He succumbed to a second attack six months later. His successor was the Yorkshireman William Stephenson, who in his own words "joined on the ground floor" before the first British Woolworth store opened.
In a canny group of Australian entrepreneurs led by Mr. Christmas were looking for a name for their new 'stupendous bargain basement'. They cheekily applied to register the name F. In-fighting between the British and American companies meant that neither raised its objection in time, allowing the venture to go ahead. Bitter legal battles in the High Court followed in the s, after rumours spread of Antipodean plans to open an office in London.
The Aussies had the last laugh. Unlike the Poms, they had the resolve to complete a move into food retailing in the Sixties. Today they are the nation's market-leading supermarket. A former subsidiary operates independently in New Zealand. By the mid s growth in the USA was slowing down. Rival dimestores had adapted to price inflation with fifteen cent lines.
But the Woolworth Board was reticent to shake a proven formula, until they saw the early results from a new subsidiary in Weimar Germany in They had translated the formula to become the 25 und 50 Pfennig stores, roughly 10 and 20 cents, allowing a much broader range.
The chain grew so rapidly that it had become self-sustaining before Hitler placed restrictions on foreign companies operating in Germany. Buoyed by the German news, a 15 cent line was added after fiftieth birthday celebrations in North America in This re-energised the chain after its stock was among the heaviest fallers in the Wall Street Crash. Many investors were all-but wiped out by the collapse.
Barbara Hutton's father Edwin had wisely sold her entire holding and put the money into gold just weeks before the crash. They reduced the American golden share and listed the subsidiary on the London Stock Exchange. The move gave the Threepenny and Sixpenny stores a measure of independence. The move helped to save many investors. Stephenson became Chairman in the UK. The UK firm was enjoying an unrivalled period of prosperity, opening a store every five days outside the Christmas season.
A major celebration marked the opening of the th 'Woolies', which was a new-build London suburban store in Wallington, Surrey. Sales and profits had never been better. Meanwhile Stateside competition was hotting up. The Directors had to give in to the inevitable, facing up to a decision that had been postponed for too long. They announced that Woolworth would remain a value store, but freed the Buyers to choose more aspirational products. Charles Sumner Woolworth told his biographer, company man J.
Winkler , that he had abstained in the vote, unable to say 'yes' in his brother's memory, unwilling to say 'no' as a stockholder and a businessman. The British company went to lengths to maintain its sixpenny limit , asserting its buying power to make suppliers accept lower margins during the price inflation of and War forced a rethink as prices rocketed and cheap goods became hard to find.
Officially the upper limit was dropped "temporarily". To show neutrality the Corporation donated to war relief in both countries, funding an orphanage near London and ambulances for Berlin. The four Directors matched them penny for penny and plane for plane. Lord Beaverbrook sent a thank you letter and a special plaque.
They were the first national assets ever to be named by a company. The two stores there traded independently during the occupation. America joined the war after Pearl Harbour, sending a big troop surge in the run-up to D-Day. Many Britons met their American Woolworth cousins for the first time, providing a 'home from home' for men 3, miles from a five-and-ten.
A number of Woolies stores provided billets for soldiers waiting for the big day. As the Allies marched into Germany in , Company Chairman Charles Sumner Woolworth announced that he planned to step down because of failing health. The fullest source of information on Woolworth is the partially fictionalized biography by John K.
Woolworth Other accounts of Woolworth and of the company are in Godfrey M. Lebhar, Chain Stores in America ; 3d ed. All rights reserved. By , there were six chains of affiliated stores operating in the United States and Canada. A second store opened in Liverpool in February and a store in Fishergate, Preston opened the following day.
Openings went ahead in Manchester, Leeds and Hull and by the Christmas the plan to have stores in towns along the route of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway were complete. By the outbreak of WWI, 44 stores had opened, the goal was a hundred outlets by Frank Woolworth, president of F. His brother Charles Sumner Woolworth took on the new role of Chairman, which he held until He didn't enjoy it.
He had a weak constitution that was ill-suited to the cold and damp. He soon persuaded his mother to dip into her savings to pay for him to go to night school, where he wanted to learn about book-keeping. Each night he would race to finish his work before riding into nearby Watertown for class. He worked hard, doing homework back on the farm.
The effort helped him to keep up with his classmates, most of whom worked in offices and shops around the City. There was no clue that one day the scruffy country boy would become one of the richest men in America. As the course continued the young Woolworth became convinced that he could make a living away from the farm. Seeing steam trains running through Watertown, he dreamt of becoming an engine driver and travelling far and wide.
He also took a good look at the shops and offices in the City Centre, and wondered whether someone might take him on as an apprentice. He discussed his aspirations at home, where his mother interceded to persuade his father to allow him six months to try to get established in commerce. She gave him a small allowance as pocket money for his first three months. A family friend Daniel McNeil offered to show him the ropes in his local General Store, and after a month arranged an introduction to the proprietors of a major City shop.
Its staff were smartly dressed and gave customers attentive service. Frank did not own a suit and was not wearing a tie when he went for interview. The senior partner, Morgan Augsbury, found him scruffy and inexperienced, but left the choice to his junior, William Moore.
Moore also had reservations, but was impressed by Woolworth's offer to work unpaid for three months while learning, in exchange for board and lodgings. Frank began on Monday 24 March, Over the months that followed Woolworth tried Moore's patience. He lacked social graces and was nervous and awkward with customers. In an interview in he told B. Forbes that he had asked too many questions, and had not seen things that were under his nose. Moore had reassigned him, and had discovered hidden talents.
Frank was given responsibility for checking in goods, keeping the stockroom tidy, and for setting up displays. He established his own system and started to study the merchandise as it passed through, gathering insight into the margins and suppliers. To everyone's surprise he showed a real flair for display. It seemed he could make something out of nothing.
His house style employed red cambric felt cloth to cover the table or shelf to draw attention to the display, which was always topped with a large, neatly lettered sign showing the price of the articles below. Frank was amiable and popular. The other trainees looked up to him, as he was a little older. They considered him a man of the world. He later recalled with pleasure that the older ladies in-store liked to mother him, charmed by his bright blue eyes and cheeky smile.
Later he made a point of repaying everyone who helped a thousand fold as he became successful. As he grew in confidence, Woolworth requested a pay rise. When this was turned down, he took a job with A. Bushnell, a rival merchant in Watertown. His new boss was much more conservative. Staff had to concentrate on customer service, rather than fancy displays.
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