Remembering Woolworth’s

by Karen Plunkett-Powell

  Charles Sumner Woolworth (1856-1947).

  “Woolworth Bro’s” five-and-ten at 125 Penn Avenue in Scranton, Pennsylvania, c. 1881.

  Charles Woolworth was instrumental in the success of the F. W. Woolworth Co., serving as president when Frank died in 1919, and on the board of directors until he died at age 90 in 1947. He made Scranton his home and became a prominent citizen and philanthropist. Charles was vice president of the U.S. Lumber Company and the Mississippi Central Railroad. He was a director of the First National Bank (Scranton Lackawanna) and the International Education Publishing Company.

  Before the Woolworths left New York, they stopped off at Uncle Albon’s to visit the McBriers and let skeptical Albon see just how well his nephew had done. While there, Frank continued to plant the seeds for his empire. He encouraged his aunt Jane to have her son, Seymour Knox (who was working in the retail trade in Michigan), to keep Frank abreast of his cousin’s progress.

  Later that week, over a cozy family dinner at the old homestead in Champion, John Woolworth filled Frank in on the lives of his Woolworth cousins, including Fred and Herbert Woolworth. Both of these boys were still in their teens at the time, but they were already showing an interest in business over farming. Frank filed away this information for future reference.

  The trip, though all too brief, was both restful and invigorating for F. W. Woolworth. Whether consciously or unconsciously, Frank had laid the groundwork for the next Woolworth milestone—the expansion of dimestores across the United States and into Canada.

  1881—1886: Let the March of Dimes Begin!

  Over the next five years, life changed drastically for Frank. He’d arrived in Lancaster in 1879 with thirty dollars in his pocket and a vague pipe dream. Yet, his gross sales for 1881 showed an impressive $18,000, and by 1882, they topped out at a mind boggling $24,000. On the homefront, Jennie announced she was going to have another baby, and asked her sister, Sidney Creighton, to leave her native Canada and join the family in Pennsylvania. The Woolworths did not have a servant, per se (although they could have easily afforded one) because Jennie much preferred to rule the growing roost. Still, Sidney Creighton’s help was heartily appreciated and, within a short time, sorely needed.

  Charles Woolworth was also moving along. Amazingly, the 1882 years’ receipts in Scranton had topped those of Lancaster, and in January 1883, he bought out Frank’s partnership interest. This was an entirely amicable arrangement; Charles simply wanted to branch out on his own. The brothers continued to share resources, retail tips and enjoyable social occasions together. The upshot of this buyout, however, was that Frank was now back to being a one-man, one-store show. Given his ambition, he didn’t like this very much, and wanted to remedy it as soon as possible. The more stores he had, the more he could buy in bulk, leading to greater profits. There was also the matter of his ego.

  Frank W. Woolworth had established a presence in parts of Pennsylvania and upstate New York, but he was still an unknown in other regions of America. The fact was, there just weren’t enough mastheads bearing his name. In March 1883, Frank opened up a store on North Second Street in Philadelphia. He was certain it would fly, considering the large population there. He was honestly shocked when the store failed within three months. He added Philadelphia to the growing list of places he would return to one day, when “Frank Woolworth” became a name that inspired awe.

  This chart illustrates the ups and downs Frank and his partners experienced during the fledgling years of the business.

  Trying a different strategy, he tested out a 25¢ store in Lancaster, which opened in October, in time to capitalize on the Christmas season. That venture also failed miserably. Although he was downcast about his business, Frank took delight in the birth of his second child, whom he and Jennie named Edna. He was amused by the antics of five-year-old Helena (now nicknamed Lena) and enjoyed the way she doted on her new baby sister. The family, including Sidney Creighton, moved out of their rented rooms on Lemon Street and into a larger space on Queen Street, which conveniently adjoined the Lancaster store.

  Around this time, Frank decided to initiate a plan that he’d been mulling over for some time. In order to expand more quickly and be able to purchase goods in discount bulk, he would form a series of partnerships. The partner would invest half the money in each new store, and act as manager. Profits and mastheads were to be shared equally, but Woolworth would be in charge of all buying and general bookkeeping. He estimated they would each need to invest $600 to $1,000.

  Frank W. Woolworth, Seymour Knox, and Charles Sumner Woolworth pioneered the first dimestores in Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey in the 1880s. This photo was taken during Seymour Knox’s wedding, June 1890.

  Frank wanted a partner he could trust, someone responsible but daring enough to take a chance in this still fledgling business. Opting for the nepotistic approach, he thought of his cousin, Seymour Knox, who was then in Michigan managing a general store and had expressed great interest in Frank’s five-and-ten trade. Woolworth invited Knox to meet him in New York City, where Frank was scheduled for a wholesale buying expedition. After that, he told Knox they would tour Lancaster. Knox and Woolworth had a grand time in the big city. Knox was equally impressed with the Woolworth store in Lancaster. Frank and Seymour struck up a deal and decided to open a new five-and-dime in Reading, Pennsylvania, which was about forty miles away from Lancaster.

  Knox was still officially employed by the Michigan firm and had to leave Pennsylvania for a short time, to settle up his former commitments. Meanwhile, Frank started ordering for the Reading site and hiring new employees. In this particular instance, though, his brother Charles beat Frank to the partnership crunch.

  Edwin M. McBrier as a young entrepreneur, c. 1888.

  Humble Beginnings

  According to Edwin M. McBrier, a five-and-dime pioneer (and cousin of Woolworth), the first dimestore proprietors of the late 1870s, had, “goods displayed in tin bread pans, and later these were replaced, in part, with square willow baskets. It was a far cry from the small, narrow and poorly-lighted stores of the 1885-1895 period to the large elegant modern stores of the present day.”

  While Frank was with Knox, Charles had been meeting with Fred Kirby, whom the Woolworth Brothers knew from Moore & Smith’s in Watertown. “Woolworth & Kirby” (as in Charles Woolworth) opened in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, on September 20, 1884. “Woolworth & Knox” (as in Frank Woolworth) opened ten days later in Reading. It was a fortuitous season, and both stores fared well. Over the next few years, Frank continued to take on “partner-managers”. But as the chart here illustrates, his track record was rather tumultuous. By June 1886, he had opened twelve different stores. Of these twelve, six had failed miserably (including two forays into “25¢ Stores.”) and the one in Scranton was now totally owned by his brother. Frank and his new partner, Oscar Woodworth, were indeed seeing profits at their first New Jersey (Trenton) site, but his other New Jersey five-and-dime in Newark, was barely hanging on. This left Frank owning, or holding a partnership interest, in only three truly profitable banner stores: Lancaster, Reading and Harrisburg.

  Ambitious cousin Seymour had already expressed a desire to branch out and start his own chain of “Knox” five-and-dimes. Charles Woolworth and Fred Kirby had similar ambitions. Frank had told them he would support their aspirations, as long as they remained friendly competitors; sharing resources yet not interceding on each other’s territory. These evolving partnership dynamics, combined with his burning desire to greatly expand his holdings, prompted Woolworth to investigate a new geographical venue. Frank decided it was time to move to New York City, where the already large wholesaling business was growing in leaps and bounds. He needed to be closer to a center of commerce, to be able to take advantage of bargain opportunities and make the Woolworth Syndicate a respectable, Manhattan-based enterprise.

  His handful of five-and-dimes were generating yearly revenues of over $100,000; his personal net profits totaled a
bout $10,000. He was totally free of debt, and he had a supportive wife and healthy children. His Queen Street “mother” store was in the capable hands of W. D. Rock, who Frank had personally trained.

  And so, in July 1886, one month after his brother Charles married Anne E. Ryals, and two months after the birth of Frank and Jennie’s third daughter Jessy May, the Woolworth family bid a bittersweet farewell to their Lancaster acquaintances. Frank rented a home in suburban Brooklyn, New York, and leased a tiny office at 104 Chambers Street in Manhattan. He was ready to make his mark in “Knickerbocker Town.”

  There is a touching postscript to this part of the story. Before he left Lancaster, Frank did get the opportunity to repay William Moore for the support and kindness extended since the day Frank entered his employ as the worst salesman in the world. In 1885, the old firm of Moore & Smith had dissolved when the ambitious Perry Smith moved west to start his own chain of five and dime stores. Without a partner, William Moore found himself in a great deal of debt, facing financial ruin. Unable to bear this, Frank headed to Watertown, where he discreetly handed Moore $2,000. He also helped Moore organize the store in the likeness of his own successful Lancaster shop. When the site reopened on town square, it was called “William Moore & Son’s 5 & 10¢ store”.

  This simple story illustrates, perhaps more than any other, Woolworth’s enduring allegiance to those who helped nourish his personal vision. In fact, he considered all of the pioneering partners, managers, stock boys and counter girls, a part of his extended family. He rewarded them by offering the sky; in other words, they could rise as high as they wanted in his empire, barring the presidential throne he saved for himself. It was this dual sense of “family” and a “challenge to be the best,” that formed the core of the early F. W. Woolworth empire.

  In the upcoming decades, thousands more would join, and benefit from, Frank’s mercantile bandwagon.

  TIME CAPSULE MEMORY

  “A Salute to the Dimestore Pioneers”

  It took great faith and courage, much perseverance and hard work, as well as considerable experimenting and groping along uncharted roads, to arrive at a definite place where success was felt to be assured. Too much credit cannot be accorded the pioneers who gave to this five and dime retail business a radically different conception of merchandising and established a new enterprise which, in many ways, revolutionized retail business methods.

  —Edwin M. McBrier, Frank Woolworth’s cousin and one of his earliest partners

  Chapter Four

  The March of “Five-and-Dimes”

  “You are profiting today from the dreams of a man who was considered a little bit “wild’ only a few years ago—a man who persisted in carrying out his ideas to the letter—who profited by following up on his convictions with hard work—and who was happy in being backed up by those in whom he had confidence, and whom he had chosen to assist him.”

  —Carson Peck, c. 1900

  Frank Woolworth and his family left their haven of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1886 to start a new life in New York. Once they arrived, Frank worked tirelessly for the next thirty-three years to create the greatest chain store empire in the world.

  The first part of that era, from mid-1886 to 1905, was a time of expansion and organization. Frank acquired more stores, more riches, and more mercantile knowledge than he ever dreamed possible. As the Woolworth syndicate grew, so did his workforce, requiring him to develop innovative ways to manage his equally innovative business.

  By January 1904, Woolworth would own seventy-six stores in ten states, and several in the District of Columbia. Another great period of expansion would ensue, and before the end of this Silver Anniversary year, he would have 120 Red-Fronts in twenty-one states. Sales for 1904 superseded $10 million. By 1919, the year he died, Woolworth owned over 1,000 stores, scattered across the United States, Canada, and the British Isles.

  Eventually, against all odds, the farmboy from the North Country would achieve all his ambitions—but it was a long, hard journey.

  The Road To Riches

  This road to riches had started out rather humbly from the time Frank ventured into New York City in 1886. Each morning, he would leave his family in their cozy home in Brooklyn, then travel to the end of the Fulton Street “L” line. From this point, he took a cable car over the new Brooklyn Bridge, and other public thoroughfares, until he finally arrived at his offices at 104 Chambers Street in Manhattan. One of the first things Frank did when he settled in was to place a brand-new sign on his office door:

  Office of

  F. W. Woolworth

  Buyer and Manager

  for the

  Woolworth Syndicate

  Strictly 5 and 10 cent stores

  He also designed the historic “W” trademark diamond that would eventually appear on every F. W. Woolworth letterhead, store, and brand product. As he gazed out his office window onto the busy but simple Manhattan street scene, Frank could not have suspected twenty-seven years later that he would entirely change the landscape by constructing his own sixty-story “Cathedral of Commerce.” In the meantime, he set to work at his rickety wooden desk, anxious to make his mark.

  For the next few years, Woolworth continued to acquire “partners-managers.” This enabled him to share expenses and expand more rapidly, yet remain free to scour the surrounding countryside for virgin main streets. By late summer, 1886, Frank and his cousin, Seymour Knox, owned stores in Newark, New Jersey, and Erie, Pennsylvania. Woolworth soon called upon other ambitious men as well, including E. Northrup, M. J. Getman, C. C. Peck, and B. W. Cage. Between them, by 1888, they managed stores in Elmira, New York, Easton, Pennsylvania, Utica, New York, and Wilmington, Delaware, respectively.

  Frank Woolworth’s Poughkeepsie, New York, store held a unique distinction. It was run by his first female manager, Frank’s lively sister-in-law, Mary Anne Creighton. Ms. Creighton’s employ started in August 1888, followed one year later by the addition of another female manager, his old friend Mrs. Adelia Coons from Watertown. Mrs. Coons had actually ventured out on her own in 1885, opening a short-lived five-and-ten in Lowville, New York. She fared even better when she started working for Woolworth in Syracuse, New York. From then on, Miss Creighton and Mrs. Coons became known as the Grand Ladies of the Woolworth Syndicate, and were accepted as “one of the boys” at all reunions and conventions.

  Placing Mrs. Coons in his Syracuse store was a honor carefully bestowed by Frank Woolworth. He’d suspected this would fast become one of his banner stores, and knew that Mrs. Coons would not disappoint him. On opening day, August 10, 1889, Mrs. Coons sent the following telegram to her boss:

  “When I came in sight of the store this morning, I remembered those stories old Mr. Moore told us of throngs battering down prisoner’s doors, and I thought to myself: “I was there!’ I got through the back door and opened the front door. There was no use trying to form a line. It was a riot! I sent for a policeman. No sooner did he gaze upon all those beautiful things than he was overcome and joined the melee. So this gray-haired lady formed herself into a police force and tried to keep the crowd from killing the clerks and smashing plate glass. As I write this, the store is jammed!”

  This amazing description typifies the inaugural scenario at most of Woolworth’s stores. Patrons of the day just could not believe that “all this” could be had for a few coins a piece. By then, Woolworth was carrying everything from egg whips to tree ornaments to Horatio Alger books. It was the heyday of retail bargains, and Americans were having a field day taking advantage of them.

  Except for Mrs. Coons and Miss Creighton, Woolworth’s management and executive force was made up entirely of men. Woolworth had an uncanny knack for choosing loyal, reliable men to run his business, and he was willing to give even the youngest applicant a chance. His very first assistant was sixteen-year-old Alvin Ivie, who, beginning in September 1888, did bookkeeping and all around gophering for Woolworth for $6.00 per week. Woolworth felt that Me should learn f
rom the ground up, especially in terms of wages; in time, Ivie became an extremely wealthy man.

  Four years later, another young bookkeeper was hired, one destined to become the second president of F. W. Woolworth Co. The teenager’s name was Hubert Templeton Parson. Parson was eccentric of personality, but he also possessed a photographic memory and remarkable business sense. He learned every aspect of the retail business from his mentor, Frank Woolworth. Ironically, Hubert Parson would spend his twilight years trying to outdo his employer; automobile for automobile, mansion for mansion and million for million. But during the early 1890s, he was just “one of the boys” who helped Frank W. Woolworth build a colossal empire.

  A Master Plan Unfolds

  One of the turning points in F. W. Woolworth’s career occurred in 1888, when he was struck down with a near-fatal bout of typhoid fever. He was laid up for nine weeks, but the second he was healthy enough to sit up, he insisted on running the business from his bed. Telegraphs and messages flew out of the house in Brooklyn with breakneck speed, as poor Alvin Ivie tried to keep up with the master’s ever-urgent orders. Jennie Woolworth had her hands full keeping Frank down, although part of her was probably happy to have him nearby, rather than dashing around the city on business until all hours of the morning. When he was no longer contagious, his three daughters flocked to his bedside whenever possible, to spend time with their interesting, entertaining, but often-absent father.