WOOLWORTH'S FIVE AND DIME STORE SHOPPING BASKETS & S (06/19/2011)...

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WOOLWORTH'S FIVE AND DIME STORE SHOPPING BASKETS & SIGN

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WOOLWORTH'S FIVE AND DIME STORE SHOPPING BASKETS & SIGN

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Sold Date: 06/19/2011
Channel: Online Auction
Source: eBay
Category: Advertising

Woolworth Building in the 1910s Library of Congress

RARE WOOLWORTH SHOPPING BASKETS 40'S 50'S SEE PHOTOS VERY GOOD CONDITION
For formerly affiliated and similarly named companies, see Woolworth (disambiguation) .F. W. Woolworth Company Industry Retail Fate Name changed in 1997 to Venator Group , and in 2001 to Foot Locker , Inc. [1 ]Founded 1879 Defunct 1997 Headquarters New York, NY , USA Products Clothing , footwear , bedding , furniture ,jewelry , beauty products , consumer electronics and housewares Subsidiaries Woolco (defunct 1982 in the U.S., Canadian stores sold to Wal-Mart in 1994)
Woolworths Group plc (separate 1982)
Woolworth GmbH (separate 1998)
Kinney Shoe Company ( acquired 1963), now Foot Locker (successor)

The F. W. Woolworth Company (often referred to as Woolworth's or Woolworth or even Woolsworth ) was a retail company that was one of the original American five-and-dime stores . The first Woolworth store was founded in Wilkes-Barre , Pa., with a loan of $300, in 1879 by Frank Winfield Woolworth . Despite growing to be one of the largest retail chains in the world through most of the 20th century, increased competition led to its decline beginning in the 1980s. The chain went out of business in July 1997, when the company decided to focus on the Foot Locker division and renamed itself Venator Group . By 2001, the company focused exclusively on the sporting goods market, changing its name to the present Foot Locker Inc ( NYSE : FL ).

Retail chains using the Woolworth name survive in Germany , Austria , Mexico , and South Africa , and, until the start of 2009, in the United Kingdom . The similarly-named Woolworth's supermarkets in Australia and New Zealand are operated by Australia's largest retail company Woolworths Limited , a separate company with no historical links to the F.W. Woolworth Company or Foot Locker, Inc. However, Woolworth's Limited did use the name from the original company, as it had not been registered or trademarked in Australia at the time.

[edit ]History Door handle of a mid-20th century Woolworth store. [edit ]Origin

The F.W. Woolworth Co. was among the first five-and-dime stores , which sold discounted general merchandise at fixed prices , usually five or ten cents, undercutting the prices of other local merchants. Woolworth, as the stores popularly became known, was one of the first American retailers to put merchandise out for the shopping public to handle and select without the assistance of a sales clerk . Earlier retailers had kept all merchandise behind a counter, and customers presented the clerk with a list of items they wished to buy. After working in a dry goods store in Watertown ,New York , Frank Winfield Woolworth opened his first Woolworth’s store in Utica , New York, in 1878, but the store failed within a year. However, a second store he opened on June 21, 1879 in Lancaster , Pennsylvania , became a success. Frank Woolworth brought his brother Charles Sumner Woolworth into the business, and together they opened more stores, often in partnership with other business associates. The Woolworth brothers also entered into partnerships with “friendly rivals” to maximize inventory purchasing power for both parties. Woolsworth had a flagship store in Philadelphia

[edit ]Rise and expansion The Woolworth Building, New York, New York, c. 1913

In 1910, Frank Woolworth commissioned the construction of the Woolworth Building in New York City . This building was entirely paid for in cash. It was completed in 1913 and was the tallest building in the world until 1930. It also served as the company’s headquarters until it was sold by the F.W. Woolworth Company’s successor, the Venator Group (now Foot Locker), in 1998.

By 1924, there were six chains of affiliated stores operating in the United States and Canada . That year, Frank and Charles incorporated the F. W. Woolworth Company and through a merger brought all 596 stores together under one corporate entity. One of the "friendly rival" predecessor chains included several stores i...