Frank Winfield Woolworth was born in 1852 in Rodman, New York. He worked as a clerk in a dry goods store in Watertown, where a sale table of items priced at five cents sold out quickly.
A failure, then Lancaster
In early 1879 Woolworth opened a “Great Five Cent Store” in Utica, New York. It failed within months.
He tried again in Lancaster, opening a store on North Queen Street in June 1879. He added goods priced at 10 cents, and the store was a hit. Lancaster became the base for the business that would grow into the F.W. Woolworth Company.
Five and dime
Woolworth’s stores sold everyday goods at fixed low prices, and customers could pick up and examine items themselves instead of asking a clerk. The model spread across the country and overseas.
By 1913 Woolworth had built the Woolworth Building in New York, then the tallest building in the world, and paid for it in cash.
Lancaster ties
Woolworth kept a connection to Lancaster, and a larger store later stood on North Queen Street. The company’s U.S. stores closed in 1997, and the business became Foot Locker.
Woolworth died in 1919. Lancaster’s role in his success is still noted on a marker downtown.