[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 103 (Monday, July 21, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S7778-S7779]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                       THE CLOSING OF WOOLWORTH'S

 Mr. MOYNIHAN. Mr. President, I noted in Friday's New York 
Times the demise of Woolworth's, one of the Nation's best known 
retailers and one with its origins in upstate New York. The Times 
article quotes Hofstra professor Robert Sobel; ``Woolworth was

[[Page S7779]]

100 years ago what Walmart is today.'' Perhaps in a century Walmart 
will similarly be remembered as an icon of a by-gone era, but the 
mercantile comparison is apt. With over 8,000 stores worldwide, and 
with an emphasis on volume purchases and discount prices, Woolworth's 
was a retailing giant.
  The early efforts of Frank Winfield Woolworth did not portend such 
success. Born on a farm in Jefferson County in 1852, his favorite 
boyhood game was playing store but initially he was not very good at 
it. At 19 he began working in a village grocery store at no pay, and 
did so for 2 years. After a similar 3-month internship at Moore & Smith 
in Watertown, he finally secured gainful employment as a store clerk at 
$3.50 a week.
  Dollar stores might seem to be a late 20th century development, but 
in 1875 there was a profitable 99 cent store in Watertown. Mr. A. 
Bushnell hired Woolworth as a $10-dollar-a-week clerk in a 99 cent 
store he was opening in Port Huron, MI. Woolworth's lack of 
salesmanship led to a $1.50 cut in his salary. Still, he saw the 
possibilities of a store with all merchandise priced the same. In 1877 
Woolworth returned to Moore & Smith. The next year he persuaded his 
employers to try a counter at a county fair on which all items sold for 
five cents. It was a great success.
  Woolworth persuaded Mr. Moore to back him with $300 for a five cent 
store on Bleeker Street in Utica, but it failed after 3 months. 
Woolworth realized that he had not had enough variety in his stock so 
in 1879 he opened a new store in Lancaster, PA with a line of ten-cent 
items as well. This one succeeded. Woolworth soon perfected the 
combination of inexpensive items you occasionally needed with 
inexpensive items you occasionally wanted. He opened his second store 
in Reading in 1884 and continued to expand. By 1909 Woolworth was in a 
position to commission the tallest building in the world, which the 
Woolworth Building was when it was completed in 1913.
  Woolworth's early partners had opened their own chains of five and 
tens. In 1912 they all were absorbed by the F.W. Woolworth Co., giving 
Woolworth control over 596 stores. He constantly strived to expand his 
line of five and ten cent merchandise, and was able to keep costs down 
by having goods manufactured especially for his chain, sometimes buying 
an entire year's output from a factory.
  Frank Woolworth died in 1919. His empire continued to grow. By 1954, 
75 years after his first sale, Woolworth's had 2,850 stores and $700 
million in annual sales. Six years later sales topped $1 billion. But 
changes on the American landscape and in the retail world were 
underway, and they would eventually lead to Friday's announcement. The 
emigration to the suburbs and competition from drug stores, specialty 
stores, malls, and large retailers along the highways finally wore down 
one of the pillars of Main Street.
  Woolworth's will be fondly remembered by millions of its customers 
who dined at the lunch counter and purchased some of life's little 
necessities there. The company also stands as a testament to the 
possibilities when one person has one good idea and endless 
determination. 

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