| Frank Winfield Woolworth | |
|---|---|
| Born | April 13, 1852 Rodman, New York |
| Died | April 8, 1919 (aged 66) Glen Cove, New York |
| Resting place | Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx, NY |
| Residence | Winfield Hall |
| Education | Watertown Commercial College, Watertown, NY |
| Known for | F.W. Woolworth Company |
| Net worth | USD ~ $6.5 million |
| Spouse | Jennie Creighton (m. 1876–1924) (b. c1853 d. 1924) |
| Children | Helena Maud Woolworth McCann (b. 7/17/1878 d. 3/28/1938) Edna Woolworth Hutton (b. 1883, d. 1918) Jessie May Woolworth Donahue (b. 3/14/1886 |
| Parents | John Hubbell Woolworth (b. 4/16/1821 d. 2/8/1907) Fanny McBrier (b.1/14/1831 d. 2/15/1878 m. 1/14/1851) |
| Relatives | Charles Sumner Woolworth (brother) (b. 8/1/1856) Barbara Hutton (granddaughter) |
Frank Winfield Woolworth (April 13, 1852 – April 8, 1919) was the founder of F.W. Woolworth Company (now Foot Locker), an operator of discount stores that priced merchandise at five and ten cents. He pioneered the now-common practices of buying merchandise direct from manufacturers and fixing prices on items, rather than haggling. He was the first to use self-service display cases so customers could examine what they wanted to buy without the help of a salesman.[1]
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He was born on April 13, 1852 in Rodman, New York to John Hubbell Woolworth and Fanny McBrier. He had a brother, Charles Sumner Woolworth.[1]
He attended a business college for 2 terms in Watertown, New York. In 1873 he worked as a stock boy in a general store. It was there that he got the idea for a 5 cent store. There was a table with items for just 5 cents that always sold what was on it.
On June 11, 1876, he married Jennie Creighton (1853–1924) and they had three daughters. One of them, Edna Woolworth (1883–1917), the mother of Barbara Hutton, later committed suicide.[2]
He borrowed $300 and opened a five-cent store in Utica, New York on February 22, 1879. It failed within weeks. His second store was in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and it opened in April of 1879. He expanded the concept to include merchandise priced at ten cents.
In 1911, the F.W. Woolworth Company was incorporated with 586 stores. In 1913, Woolworth built the Woolworth Building in New York City at a cost of $13.5 million in cash. At the time, it was the tallest building in the world, measuring 792 feet, or 241.4 meters.
He built Winfield Hall in Glen Cove, New York on Long Island, in 1916. The grounds of the estate required 70 full time gardeners and the 56 room mansion required dozens of servants. The home's decor included elements from Egyptology, Napoleon and spiritualism, pipe organ, and a planetarium.
Woolworth died on April 8, 1919, five days before his 67th birthday. At the time of his death, Woolworth was worth about approximately $6.5 million or the equivalent of 1/1214th of US GNP [3] His company owned more than 1,000 stores in the United States and other countries and was a $65 million ($805,849,421 in 2009 dollars) corporation. He died without signing his newest will, so his handicapped wife received the estate under the provision of his older 1889 will.[4]
His granddaughter Barbara Hutton would gain much publicity for her lifestyle, squandering more than $50 million. Hutton likely named her London, UK, mansion after her grandfather's Long Island estate.
Bronze busts honoring Woolworth and seven other industry magnates stand outside between the Chicago River and the Merchandise Mart in downtown Chicago, Illinois.
By 1997, the original chain he founded had been reduced to 400 stores, and other divisions of the company began to be more profitable than the original chain. The original chain went out of business on July 17, 1997, as the firm began its transition into Foot Locker, Inc..
The UK stores continued operating (albeit under separate ownership since 1982) after the US operation ceased under the Woolworth name and by the 2000s traded as Woolworths Group. The final U.K. stores ceased trading January 6, 2009. The UK Woolworths brand was bought by Shop Direct Group in the UK who plan to run the store online only.
Woolworths continues to operate in Germany. Woolworths pty. Ltd. retailers in Australia have no connection to F. W. Woolworths or the original Woolworths corporation.
Mr. Woolworth was inducted into the Junior Achievement U.S. Business Hall of Fame in 1995.[5]
He has a cemetery named for him east of Watertown, NY where he started his first store.[6]
In 1978 the Woolworth Estate became the home of Monica Randall, a writer and photographer She wrote a memoir of her experiences there entitled Winfield: Living in the Shadow of the Woolworths. Other notable residents of Winfield were the Reynolds family of R. J. Reynolds Tobacco Company and Reynolds Aluminum. The mansion was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.[7]
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