Frank Winfield Woolworth was an American entrepreneur, the founder of F. W. Woolworth Company, and the operator of variety stores known as "Five-and-Dimes" which featured a selection of low-priced merchandise. He pioneered the now-common practices of buying merchandise directly from manufacturers and fixing the selling prices on items, rather than haggling. He was also the first to use self-service display cases, so that customers could examine what they wanted to buy without the help of a sales clerk.
Frank Winfield Woolworth
Frank and Charles Woolworth with Seymour H. Knox I
Woolworth's tomb in Woodlawn Cemetery, Bronx
Woolworth memorialized in an architectural detail of the Woolworth Building
The F. W. Woolworth Company was a retail company and one of the pioneers of the five-and-dime store. It was among the most successful American and international five-and-dime businesses, setting trends and creating the modern retail model that stores follow worldwide today.
The Woolworth Building, New York City, c. 1913
Tea cup ballet, a 1935 photograph by Olive Cotton with some inexpensive cups and saucers from Woolworths
Second successful "Woolworth Bros" store, Scranton, Penn. Later bought by brother Charles, becoming the first "C. S. Woolworth" store, and eventually merged into the F. W. Woolworth Company.
FW Woolworth store in Providence, RI, c. 1930–1945
