With few exceptions, F. W. Woolworth & Co., Ltd., England managed, trained and staffed its workforce from its own country’s human resources. The British division rapidly became an independently run retail operation. Of course, a majority stock interest of sixty-two percent of the ordinary shares was maintained by the American Woolworth Company—thus assuring a steady stream of earnings into the States. F. W. Woolworth & Co., Ltd. soon expanded to Ireland (April 1914) and Scotland (October 1914), where it was accepted with great warmth and enthusiasm. By 1930, virtually every major town in the British Isles had a “three-and-sixpence” shop of its own.
This Woolworth building in Blackpool, England, featured a roof-top cafe and a large, street-level “three-and-sixpence” Red-Front.
Fred Woolworth and Byron Miller remained loyal to the chief until the day Frank Woolworth died in 1919, generally heeding his wise counsel and wishes. There was one wish, however, that they did not quite heed. It seemed that Fred Woolworth and Byron Miller were both clean-shaven Americans when they settled in London to run F. W. Woolworth & Co., Ltd. Shortly thereafter, Frank decided his boys needed mustaches to give them a look of distinction among their British colleagues. He ordered them to grow some facial hair posthaste. Fred and Byron dutifully grew mustaches, but they also shaved them off the second Frank Woolworth sailed back to the states. For years afterward Fred and Byron grew back their mustaches only when their leader was due back in England. Supposedly, Frank Woolworth never caught on.
Whether mustachioed or clean-shaven, the Woolworth, Ltd. management team led the chain into a great period of prosperity and expansion. By 1912, Frank Woolworth boasted twenty-eight British holdings—all of them operating at a neat profit, and twenty-six of them managed by Englishmen. In 1914, there was a total of 44 stores in England, Scotland, Wales, Eire, and Ireland. Another marked period of expansion ensued during the 1920s, where William Stevenson pioneered the famous “Wooleys” chainstores into South Africa and the British West Indies.
In 1931, British Woolworth’s changed its status to a publicly owned company. This decreased the American Woolworth’s stock interest to 52.7 percent. Nonetheless, in 1954 alone, the E. W. Woolworth & Co., Ltd., generated over $7 million (US) for its parent company. Stockholders on both side of the globe were duly pleased. Then war intervened.
Both World War I and II were devastating for the company. Records show that during World War II alone, twenty-six of the company’s 766 stores were completely destroyed by enemy bombs, and 326 others were seriously damaged. Over 2,600 British male employees and large numbers of females left their jobs with Wooleys to serve in the National Service. Hundreds of women grasped the reins and carried on as managers and clerks during these harsh times. The British Woolworth’s executives voluntarily contributed money to the next-of-kin of employees who were serving, to help augment the lost pay, and they made certain that copies of the company’s in-house magazine, The New Bond, were sent to the men and women at the front. The Christian Science Monitor reported that, “the company’s service flag was emblazoned at war’s end with 5,848 stars.”
After World War II ended, the Brits were tireless in their attempts to rebuild. By 1960, there were over 1,000 stores in operation, one in almost every major city of England. On the golden anniversary of the F. W. Woolworth & Co., Ltd. in 1959, Chairman John Berridge proudly hailed the efforts of post-war British to rebuild:
TIME CAPSULE MEMORY
“The Wooley’s Riot in Liverpool”
On the opening day of the second store in Liverpool [1909] there was a near riot! The counters were mobbed by shawl-clad, bare-footed women in such numbers that the very sales counters were pushed about the floor; shop girls fainted; and the customers helped themselves to the goods without the formality of paying for them.
—R. John Berridge, former chairman of Woolworth Ltd., Britain
F. W. Woolworth Ltd. “Firsts”
FIRST SHOP IN LIVERPOOL: 1909
FIRST SHOP IN LONDON: April 1913
FIRST CARDIFF (WALES) SHOP: 1913
FIRST SHOP IN DUBLIN: April 1914
FIRST GLASGOW (SCOTLAND) SHOP: Oct. 1914
In spite of the interruption of two world wars and the destruction during the second of so many important stores, the British Company bounded back and increased the number of its units at an average rate of one every eighteen days for the whole of the fifty years!
And so, Woolworth’s, or “Wooleys” as it was nicknamed in Britain, persevered after the war, stronger and more visible than ever before.
Remembering “Wooleys”: Then and Now
Just like their American counterparts, many patrons of F. W. Woolworth & Co., Ltd., England, can fondly recall their first trip to the local Wooleys for a tin soldier or a pair of warm woolen socks … for a composition book or “magic” painting book … or a pocketful of delicious penny chocolate. Many a retired early twentieth-century laborer spent leisurely afternoons at the lunch counters, sipping tea and munching on fish-and-chips, or in some shops, tasting their first American hot dog.
TIME CAPSULE MEMORY
“The Air Raids on Woolworth’s”
Some day-time raids in the South East caused injury and death, notably at our New Cross Store, London. Here a direct hit at midday killed all the staff but one, and many of the public. Fire watchers were compulsory, and we lost some people at their posts on the stone roofs in night raids. There were some brighter aspects to this period. The loyalty shown among the staff, both to the Company and the War effort was a very live thing.
—William Lawrence Stephenson, F. W. Woolworth & Co., Ltd. chairman
The decades rolled by, bringing about changes in the types of merchandise offered, as well as in the prices. In November 1940, the company was finally forced to lift its “nothing over a sixpence” policy. Regardless of this, for many years afterward, much of the merchandise was still available for under five shillings, which was then roughly equivalent to one American dollar.
During the 1950s, F. W. Woolworth & Co., Ltd. introduced its customers to the concept of self-service shopping. Slowly but surely, all the Woolworth stores changed over to self-service, doing away with the tradition of having a uniformed sales girl posted at every counter, waiting to personally help patrons. From the largest stores in London, to the smallest stores in villages, such as Cobham in Surrey, Wooleys entered the modern age. Simultaneously, the actual premises were revitalized. Sometimes this amounted to a simple paint job, while in other cases a entirely new building was created to accommodate the growing numbers of merchandise and customers. Stores, including those on High Street of Guildford and Holborn in London, experienced a major face-lift.
By the 1960s, fresh-frozen foods shared space with hot scones. Foam plastic mats replaced hand-embroidered place napkins. And, with the exception of the smallest, most remote stores, the wonderful wood counters were replaced with multitiered gondolas. The old counters were not practical anymore for displaying bulky goods like plastic washing-up bowls or large imported rugs.
Regardless of all the modernization, F. W. Woolworth & Co., Ltd. remained a colorful, bustling, amiable place to find a great bargain in the leanest of times. Wooleys was still the place to find items one just could not seem to find elsewhere. It also offered the comfort of a familiar red masthead sign for Americans traveling abroad.
In 1982, the Woolworth American parent company sold off its entire U.K. interest in F. W. Woolworth & Co., Ltd. to the Paternoster Group for ¢300 million. The group was known as “Woolworth Holdings” until 1989, when it changed its name to Kingfisher.
TIME CAPSULE MEMORY
“Boyhood Memories of High Street”
I still remember shopping at the local Woolworth’s on High Street in our town (one of the older towns in England) and gaping at all that lovely, cut-rate merchandise. One of my favorite boyhood buys was a wonderful color map of the Front, which was issued soon after World War II. I have it to this day.
—Jonathan Ga
sh, author of the “Lovejoy” mystery series
Today, Kingfisher is one of Europe’s largest non-food retail groups. Along with Woolworth’s shops, they own several large chains, such as B&Q garden centers and Superdrug health and beauty stores. Kingfisher describes its Woolworth’s stores as “the high street chain for consumers’ everyday shopping needs.” Along with kidswear, toys, and home items, they recently added newspaper and magazines and lottery tickets to the mix. As of 1998, there were 781 Woolworth’s stores and over 30,000 employees in the U.K.
Clearly, the retail baby to which Frank Woolworth first gave birth in 1909 is in good hands. Of course, many of the patrons of Kingfisher’s Woolworth’s are not aware of its Yankee roots. The Woolworth’s abroad have developed their own personal history and style—but for Americans traveling to London, Glasgow, or Dublin, the familiar red letters of Woolworth’s still offer a pleasant reminder of their own days at the five-and-dime.
In the United Kingdom, the Woolworth legacy lives on.
TIME CAPSULE MEMORY
“The Woolworth’s in Stevenage”
I grew up in England in the ’50’s, when the currency was still pounds, shillings and pence before decimalization in the early 1970s. There was a Woolworth’s store in the town of Stevenage, four miles from where I lived. It was a great treat for me when my mother took me to Woolworth’s; it seemed such a large store to a 5-year-old. My greatest treat was to spend sixpence on a new pencil and a composition book, or, maybe, a “magic” painting book. Woolworth’s had its own peculiar smell, probably a mix of garden products and everything else they sold, from pots and pans to hammers and plimsolls, the cheap, black tennis-type shoes we wore for gym class. The floors were scrubbed wood and the shop assistants wore rust-colored overalls and a hat. —Susan J. Pope, Freehold, Twp., N.J.
Souvenir thimble from modern U.K. Woolworth’s, which are now owned by Kingfisher.
Wilkomen, Woolworth’s! The Story Of F. W. Woolworth Co., G.m.b.H.
The history of the Red-Fronts in Germany is inherently linked to Frank Woolworth’s first experiences in that country during his maiden journey to Europe in 1890. From the moment he first stepped onto German soil, Frank was enamored with the country. He reveled in the cultural bounty, the musical concerts, the stunning architecture, and the beautiful hand-crafted dolls and Christmas ornaments. He was also dazzled by the shops. There were already quite a few “50-pfennig” stores, which he visited and analyzed with great fervor (50 pfennigs at that time were equal to roughly 3¢ in American money). Of one such visit in Nuremberg, he wrote:
“We took a walk tonight, through the old city and it was very interesting indeed. Very large show windows were trimmed up in elegant taste … and some of the goods were about the same as those sold for 25¢ in America, and some of them could be found in our own 5 & 10 cent stores. Goods in most of the windows were displayed in fine taste with prices marked on each article.”
Frank was impressed, especially when he saw just how many German natives and tourists were streaming in to these variety stores. He immediately saw an opportunity to bring his own brand of Yankee discount chain store there, which of course would offer items for even less than the going rate of fifty pfennigs. It is probable that his American colleagues scoffed at this idea, the same way they scoffed at his idea for expanding his Red-Fronts into the British Isles. So, rather than pursue this venture at that time, Frank let the matter drop. He settled for placing large orders for Christmas ornaments, marbles, dolls, and other German-crafted goods, which he planned on selling in his American stores by December.
Remodeled Bremen, Germany, store, c. 1979. The first “25-&-50 phenning” Red-Front opened in Bremen in 1927.
Before he left Germany, Frank and his party found time to enjoy more of the local sights. His letters home were filled with details about the incomparable food and concerts, the expansive art galleries, and the beautifully dressed women. He did have mixed feelings, though, about his trip to Berlin. On April 19,1890, he wrote from the Grand Hotel de Rome:
“We arrived in this handsome city last night at 9:15. Visited the Royal Palace this forenoon and the National Gallery in the afternoon. One of the great sights in Berlin are the soldiers. Today the soldiers were all called out to salute the Empress as she was passing in her carriage and nearly every person took off their hats except myself I could see no sense in such nonsense….
Today I wandered into a show of waxed figures and while looking at a tattooed girl heard her drop a few words of English! She told me she was an American and had come to London with Barnum’s show and will perform in the various cities of Europe.”
Following Frank Woolworth’s first sojourn to Europe, he returned many times in the ensuing years. Many of the products he purchased in Germany became instant best-sellers in the States. He eventually opened F. W. Woolworth warehouses at 8 Lange Strausse, Fuerth in Bavaria, and in Sonneburg in Thuringia, so as to house the bounty of items he and his buyers continued to find in available in Deutschland.
The idea of expanding his Red-Fronts into Germany continued to haunt Frank, especially after he saw the tremendous success of his first store in Liverpool in 1909. At one point, he strongly encouraged “his boys” to start training promising American young men in the languages and cultures of other countries, including Germany, as a way to prepare them for future expansion overseas. However, time got away from the innovative chief, business matters in his own country consumed most of his time, and the actual idea of opening a German division was once again shelved. Perhaps one of the most pivotal reasons for Frank Woolworth not expanding into Germany during his lifetime was the onset of World War I.
For the duration of the war years, 1914–1918, both of Woolworth’s German-based warehouses were closed down by the German government. This caused a multitude of problems, as the chief had begun to rely on several German imports as big sellers in his established five-and-dimes. But Frank Woolworth was not a man to let anything, even war, interfere with his profits. He quickly commissioned American manufacturers to duplicate the German dolls and tree ornaments that had become so popular, at the same time he arranged for American cottons and threads to replace the now unavailable British-made brands.
Frank Woolworth died in 1919, unable to pursue expansion into Germany. However, Woolworth’s successor, Hubert T. Parson, picked up the reins and made his mentor’s dream come true.
F. W. Woolworth Co., G.m.b.H. was legally formed in 1926 with a capital of Rm 3,500.000.
F. W. Woolworth of New York owned 97% of the corporation, although they planned on staffing the new division almost entirely with Germans, and stocking the stores primarily through German suppliers. The basic plan was to create hundreds of new jobs overseas, to make a healthy profit for the parent company, and to simultaneously make the “Woolworth’s” name more visibly global.
In the fall of 1926, Hubert Parson sent Richard H. Strongman to Germany to organize a new branch of the company. By then, war-torn Europe was recovering from its losses, and regardless of prior differences between the two countries, it was assessed that “Yankee anything” would sell in Germany. Strongman reported back that the Germans hungered for inexpensive necessities. Luxury items were not yet a priority with the still-recovering population, so it was decided that Woolworth’s in Germany would, for the time being, stock their store with a heavy dose of the same utilitarian items that had launched Frank Woolworth’s empire in America back in 1879. Of course, several novelty items and luxuries such as toys were also on hand.
R. H. Strongman along with Germany’s first managing director, Ivan W. Keffer and his assistant, Rudolf Jahn, scouted out sites and made all the preliminary arrangements. The very first “25-and-50-pfg” Red-Front opened in Bremen on Saturday, July 30, 1927.
The opening was as grand as any the F. W. Woolworth Company had ever staged in America, with a preopening reception on Friday complete with an orchestra and refreshments, and an “official” opening for business on Sat
urday.
The local Bremen Zeitung newspaper reported:
“An orchestra played at the pre-opening the night before and early purchasers found, with astonishment, that anything they needed could be bought. On the counters, you can buy razors for only 50 pfennig!
“… The young mother can find nearly everything for her little darling. If the child is older and wants toys, the Woolworth Company will help again with the cheap and pretty toys. With all these above mentioned articles, the assortment is not exhausted. If you want to know exactly what you can get there, look over the displayed goods and you will be convinced.”
And so, with favorable free advertising being provided by the local media through reviews, and scores of Bremen patrons raving about the unprecedented variety and bargains at Mr. Woolworth’s “Yankee” shop, F. W. Woolworth Co., G.m.b.H. was on its way. Within five months, there were nine more German stores and an executive office was opened at Friedrich Ebert Strasse 6, Berlin. By December 31, 1927, the stores were bringing in half a million American dollars in sales, or about 2,100,000 German marks. One year later, Mr. Strongman and his staff were boasting forty-seven stores and over $28,500 (U.S.) in sales. Meanwhile, back in New York City, company president Hubert Parson smiled when he saw the ample proceeds from the German holdings being funneled into the American company’s bank account. From his grand desk in the Empire Room in the Woolworth Building, Parson tipped his hat to the memory of Frank, who’d had the idea for entering Deutschland so long ago.
Woolworth Trivia
The sites of the first nine “25-&-50-phennig” stores in Germany, c. 1927:
Remembering Woolworth’s Page 15