Companies that vanished: Woolworth's, the granddaddy of the five-and-dimes

There is incorrect informattin in this article. The first Woolworth's opened in 1878 in Utica, NY, and not 1879, in PA. Trey Thoelcke's (the author's)
own link even gives that information.

The article fails to include nationally known Richman Bros. whose president was quietly looting company's goods and selling them at cheap prices through his church (such a good Christian eh?).

Then Woolworths was hit with a huge stockholder lawsuit which brought the company down leaving only Foot Locker stock distributed to FWW shareholders at a fraction of what stockholders' paid for the FWW stock.

I know....I worked for Richman Bros and paid over $18 a share for FWW stock thru the company employee stock purchase plan only to receive shares worth barely $11/share.

Woolworth's main accounting office was located in Milwaukee starting in 1956. That year my mother, Evelyn Zeimet, went to work there as a statistical typist using a large carriage IBM typewriter to produce spreadsheet listings of the stores performances. She gave me her typewriter after it was replaced by a PC. She finally retired in 1982 and moved to Florida where she passed away in 1989. She'd be shocked to hear what happened to the company.

My mother worked at the national Woolworth accounting office that was opened in Milwaukee in 1956. She began work there that year as a statistical typist, producing spreadsheets of the stores's performances on a large carriage IBM typewriter that weighed a ton which she gave to me after it was replaced in the 70s by a word processor. She retired from her job in 1982 and moved to Florida where she passed away in 1989. She'd be shocked to hear what became of the company.

You had an employer with a heart when you worked for Woolworth's . In the stores, the wages were not the greatest, but they were a good employer for working moms. If a child was sick, take off, if a family crisis of any type, it was not held against you. They also tried to work around your family schedule, if possible. I retired from them in 1994 after they started to close stores. They are missed.

I remember Woolworth,I grew up with Woolworths.I am now 42 and still remember buying records there etc.All our familys shopping was done there,the good memories always remain.Thanks Woolworth,you are greatly missed.

I have many fond memories from my youth about Woolworths. Hugh banana splits, cheap 45's, plastic curtains(used to decorate bedroom a different color every week), cheap jewelry and all kinds of hair baubles. I stopped in almost every day on the walk home after school back in the early sixties. What great (safe) times that were just about to change and never be seen again.

Whisply, Esther in south NJ

I miss Woolworths stores as I grew up with them. they had such good service and extremely good prices.

I would like to see the ORIGINAL WOOLWORTHS STORE COME BACK AND STAY WITH US.

The kids now days don't know what a jump rope is or Tinker Toys or buying so much for so little. Please bring them back.

We all need to have those stores come back and the price was always right. like .10 for a whole bunch of candy, jump rope, Metal Jacks. kids don't know about those things anymore.

We need the good old days back with their prices too.

my favorite thing about woolworths was the lunch counter where everthing was made while you waited. my mon would put my brothers and sisters and me up to the counter and get us french fries and a soda while she did her shopping. we were happy and safe . people at the snack bar watched out for you. also, when i was 16 years old the only place my boyfriend and i would eat. the burger chef on jefferson ave. in newport news, va. we would use the quarters his dad put in the glove compartment of his truck for gas. it didn't take a lot to share a burger, fries. and a shake.

What ever happened to the McCrory, McClelland and Green[MMG] dime stores. I always shopped at them

I remember going into Woolworths on a Saturday afternoon. My big sister would take my brother and I over to main street in town. We would see a matinee at the one and only movie theater (it showed only one movie at a time!), then go into Woolworths to look at all the toys and displays there. We would then sit down at the lunch counter and all have a cherry coke. It had real cherry bits in it. awesome! I think the cokes for the three of us only cost a dime each!

When I was in junior high we practically lived at the Woolworth's store on Greenfield Avenue, in West Allis, a nearby suburb of Milwaukee.

Low and behold, after college and a six year career in auditing with Singer Sewing Machine (less two years with the Army), I joined Woolworth at their central accounting office on Mill Road in Milwaukee. I was a senior auditor and two years later ran the audit department for 4500 Woolworth stores and about 300 Woolco stores. My office was at Woolworth's new location in front of Brown Deer shopping center. I moved to Brown Deer but traveled extensively to see my 15 or so auditors and give a monthly report the the Board of Directors in the Woolworth Building, NYC. Singer helped start my career, but with Woolworth it sky-rocketed. I told them they were handling the discount chain (Woolco) improperly, but in 1979 I left, disillusioned. They brought in guys from Harvard and Yale and.......................you know the rest.

I miss Woolworth to. You can't even find the things you need these days that they used to sell.Can't even get a spol of sewing thread in this town now. They cater to loafers only.

The thing I miss most about Woolworth's was that you could buy any household gadget there and it wouldn't cost you an arm and a leg. Whatever your family needed, Woolworth's sold it. No other store today can say that. The closest you get to that is Walmart's.

For all you Woolworth's fans, check out a song by Nanci Griffith called "Love at the Five and Dime". Be sure you listen to the Live version from the 'One Fair Summer Evening' recording. Nanci tells a REALLY CUTE story at the beginning about finding a Woolworth's in every little town, and even finding one in England. She talks about the smells and the sounds. It REALLY reminds me of my hometown. I miss those days too.....

Woolworths was the best! I still remember the one at Richmond Mall in Richmond Heights, Ohio with the lunch counter. I used to get bicycles, toys, clothes, baseball equipment and all kinds of cool stuff there. I also remember my Mom getting me and my brother a hot dog and popcorn almost every time we stopped in.

I started my career at Woolwoths in Audubon, N.J. my sr. year in high school. I went on the mgr. training program and met my wife in Camden, N.J. in 1971.

Woolwoth's went out of business because of lousey management. Woolco started the decline as in 1982 the only division not making any money was closed in the USA. There still were Woolco stores in the 1990's in Canada. A hot shot lawyer was able to get Woolworth's out of their leaeses if they closed all the stotes in the USA.

What killed Woolworth's were their stores in the high rent district the malls. Their ads never changed year to year and they failed to change with the times. At the end they did not have scanners at the registers like every other retail company did.

The biggest problem with Woolworth's was their lack of concern for the competition and more on those climbing up the latter. If you were a golden boy you could do no wrong. Promotions were not based on abitity but brown nosing and being related to the right person.

That is life in the real world today.

I grew up in SF area where we had 3 Woolies. Their hoggie sandwiches were the best on a dutch crunch roll, along with an ice cream sandwich with neo. ice cream. Then the store in downtown SF had a bakery and candy bins. Well, gross as this is, they were all full of cockroaches. My sister used to work the candy counter and would freak out over them. Then she knew someone who bought a lovely cake, with dead roaches in it. They returned it or course. Makes me wonder about those sandwiches tho.
Debbie

I miss Woolworth's. In the 60's we had a total of five in my hometown of Duluth, Minnesota. On Superior Street, our Main Street, there were two stores about a block or two apart. One on both sides of the street just a couple of blocks apart.
The bigger, main store had two levels with a grand staircase. They had a wonderful lunch counter. I miss the lunch counter the most.
Dave O.

Just because a person goes to church does not make them a Christian. A person becomes a Christian when they put their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, for the forgiveness of their sins.