When was woolworths established

Every man, woman and child needs a handy place where good things are cheap. Little did he know, that more than 92 years later, these words would still form the basis of our team philosophy and values.

The depression years were wreaking havoc across the world, but for some reason, Woolworths continued to grow. Up until the mids, we had always advertised in the daily newspapers. Not only did this launch a new phase of our development, it also helped kick-off the career of leading radio personality, Jack Davey, who up until becoming the Woolworths compere, was relatively unknown.

Our success meant that we were in a position to create an assurance scheme that would provide Woolworths employees with the security they needed in their retirement. Our first warehouse was established over two floors above the Oxford Street, Sydney store in World War II changed everything for Woolworths, as we were called to do our duty.

The Grocery range was limited, but included fresh vegetables, delicatessen items and packaged fresh meat sold out of refrigerated cabinets. Queues lined the block as we prepared to open the doors of our th store, in Wentworthville NSW. In just four years, we had experienced unprecedented growth, thanks to the revolution of self-service and dedicated food stores.

After acquiring Centralian Traders in Alice Springs, we became the first retailer to operate Australia-wide. We had finally achieved our mission to deliver quality and value to every state and territory in the country. Under one roof — with adjacent parking — customers could access a range of food and variety goods at value prices.

Our first — built in Warrawong, New South Wales — was such a success that store plans still on the drawing board, were reviewed and immediately converted to adopt the new model.

Spotting an opportunity for growth, other stores followed suit with a raft of license applications throughout the s and 70s. By , all Group stores with a drinks license were consolidated into one trading unit and in we entered into contracts with Dan Murphy. Hot on the heels of this success, we opened our first premium drinks store — First Estate — in , and established BWS. In , we decided to take our commitment to quality to the next level by opening our very own Quality Assurance Laboratory — independent of the buying department.

By the time Stephenson retired in , he had built the British arm into a huge concern, floating it on the London Stock Exchange and becoming one the country's richest men. The company expanded rapidly. In the mids, it was opening a store every 17 days, to the delight of local councillors who regarded the arrival of its distinctive red fascia as a stamp of approval for their town. The flotation gave the British management increased confidence and autonomy from the head office in New York and, the following year, Woolworth's successor, Byron Miller, observed: "The child has long since outgrown the parent, generating more profit and taking hold more quickly than the American company ever did.

After the second world war, growth stagnated as competitors began to open self-service stores, an innovation Woolworths was quick to copy but slow to roll out. The first Woolworths to dispense with traditional counters and serving staff opened in Cobham, Surrey, in March , but the revamp was only used in new stores. Rivals, including supermarkets, who rolled out the new concept faster, soon began to eat into its market share.

In the s, an average of 15 stores were closed each year to fund the renovation of more modern outlets but, at the start of the s, Woolworths still had 1, shops and was beginning to expand into out-of-town locations. In , the US Woolies, now owned by a rival American retailer, announced it was closing its remaining FW Woolworth stores, but its British arm remained in rude health.

UK shoppers considered 'Woolies' to be as British as fish and chips, while Americans called it 'the five-and-ten' sixty years after it abandonned its fixed prices. But, having risen like a meteor, it faded into a peaceful retirement in North America in the s, before falling like a stone in the UK in The strong chain went from normal trading to complete oblivion in 41 days.

Weeks later F. Woolworth GmbH of Germany became insolvent, though its administrators secured its survival and renaissance as a shop chain, rather than the website that now serves the UK. There can be little doubt that if Frank Woolworth was starting out today it would be on the Internet, with its low costs and mass reach. But that is cold comfort for those who loved and cherished the stores in Britain, Canada and the USA. Fortunately the German company survives, along with some former British subsidiaries overseas in Zimbabwe, Barbados and the West Indies and a small chain in Mexico.

But for most people these are a long way to walk for some pic'n'mix candy and a light bulb. At the age of fifteen he gave up life on his father's farm to seek his fortune working in a shop in Watertown. Despite studying commerce and book-keeping at night school, his boss, William Moore , found him useless as a Shop Assistant.

Instead the young man took charge of display and stock management. One of his jobs was to set up a table of fixed price five cent goods, which proved such a hit that in , with Moore's support, he branched out on his own, setting up one of America's early fixed price stores.

It was a great success and later the same year his younger brother, Charles Sumner Woolworth , joined as Manager of a second store in nearby Harrisburg.

Ten cent lines were added in , creating the first Five and Ten Cent store chain. Over the next twenty years Frank invited relatives and co-workers from Moore's to join him, establishing a syndicate of five ' friendly rivals '. The chains operated independently, but carried his goods. The formula proved popular, allowing each pioneer to expand rapidly.

The openings drew large crowds. As his buying power grew, Woolworth started to track products back to the source , offering cash payment to those vendors who were willing to drop their prices and sell direct.

Many of the items came from Europe, where manufacturing was more advanced. After it became Woolworth's home from home. By other five-and-ten chains had opened in competition. Although these chains were much smaller and less successful, each of the syndicate members decided to incorporate his company, selling shares to friends and managers. This was done defensively as a safeguard against a hostile takeover, but also raised a lot of money, making the pioneers rich and allowing them to accelerate their opening programmes.

Woolworth had toyed with the idea of opening in Britain ever since and took the plunge despite the reservations of his management. Frank hired his cousin, Fred , to lead the new venture along with three volunteers from New York State.

To deal with resistance from the British press he also hired an Englishman, William Lawrence Stephenson , from a favoured supplier. By the British subsidiary had already grown to twelve stores. Its momentum was so great that it was able to open stores using retained profit. Frank had already turned his attention to other projects. Work was nearing completion on his grandest scheme - the world's tallest building in Broadway Place, New York.

He had commissioned the top architect Cas Gilbert, and had overseen the work personally, paying for it in cash. Businessmen had flocked to take floor space in the landmark Woolworth Building that dominated the Manhattan skyline. Also in , the five friendly rival Five-and-Ten Cent Store chains joined forces. The fascias of S. Each became a VP of the F.

Woolworth Co. Frank engineered the deal and became the President. By the outbreak of War in Europe, the British chain had opened 44 stores with many more in the pipeline.

The infant resisted its parent's offer to send help from the USA as managers went away to war. In the American company opened its thousandth store in palatial premises on New York's Fifth Avenue. The magnate launched a savings stamp scheme just weeks later, persuading rival dimestores to join him in selling them.

He later funded victory parades for returning servicemen in many towns served by a Woolworth Five-and-Ten. The final years of Frank Woolworth's life were filled with sadness. His beloved wife Jennie fell ill with 'the living death', which is called early-onset Alzheimer's today. His eldest daughter Edna died in tragic circumstances.

She had been trapped in a loveless marriage to the financier Franklyn Laws Hutton. Frank's granddaughter, Barbara, later dubbed the "poor little rich girl" found her mum dead in bed. Woolworth suffered poor health as he got older. He was given to violent mood swings and often had to take to his bed for weeks on end. Nonetheless his death came as a great shock across the retail world. He passed away just three days after complaining of a head cold as he left his desk in New York.

He died from septic poisoning from a tooth infection on 8 April He was 66 and had been preparing for the fortieth anniversary celebrations for his 1, strong chain. His brother, Charles Sumner Woolworth, became Chairman - a post he held with distinction until , while the Company Treasurer, Hubert Parson, stepped up to become President.

Frank would have been pleased by one obituary reading: "He made his money not by selling a little for a lot, but by selling a lot for a little. Kresge's decision to close all of his stores for the funeral as a mark of respect. In the firm was rocked by another death , as Frank's cousin Fred, MD of the British subsidiary, passed away at just fifty-two years of age.

He had overseen the opening of highly profitable stores. He had a reputation for being firm but fair, setting high standards but also treating the staff generously, with paid holidays and outings to the seaside. A lively and active man, he suffered a stroke on a trip home to the USA and never fully recovered.

He succumbed to a second attack six months later. His successor was the Yorkshireman William Stephenson, who in his own words "joined on the ground floor" before the first British Woolworth store opened. In a canny group of Australian entrepreneurs led by Mr. Christmas were looking for a name for their new 'stupendous bargain basement'.

They cheekily applied to register the name F. In-fighting between the British and American companies meant that neither raised its objection in time, allowing the venture to go ahead.

Bitter legal battles in the High Court followed in the s, after rumours spread of Antipodean plans to open an office in London. The Aussies had the last laugh. Unlike the Poms, they had the resolve to complete a move into food retailing in the Sixties.

Today they are the nation's market-leading supermarket. A former subsidiary operates independently in New Zealand. By the mid s growth in the USA was slowing down.

Rival dimestores had adapted to price inflation with fifteen cent lines. But the Woolworth Board was reticent to shake a proven formula, until they saw the early results from a new subsidiary in Weimar Germany in They had translated the formula to become the 25 und 50 Pfennig stores, roughly 10 and 20 cents, allowing a much broader range.

The chain grew so rapidly that it had become self-sustaining before Hitler placed restrictions on foreign companies operating in Germany. Buoyed by the German news, a 15 cent line was added after fiftieth birthday celebrations in North America in This re-energised the chain after its stock was among the heaviest fallers in the Wall Street Crash.

Many investors were all-but wiped out by the collapse. Barbara Hutton's father Edwin had wisely sold her entire holding and put the money into gold just weeks before the crash. They reduced the American golden share and listed the subsidiary on the London Stock Exchange. The move gave the Threepenny and Sixpenny stores a measure of independence. The move helped to save many investors.

Stephenson became Chairman in the UK. The UK firm was enjoying an unrivalled period of prosperity, opening a store every five days outside the Christmas season.

A major celebration marked the opening of the th 'Woolies', which was a new-build London suburban store in Wallington, Surrey. Sales and profits had never been better. Meanwhile Stateside competition was hotting up. The Directors had to give in to the inevitable, facing up to a decision that had been postponed for too long.

They announced that Woolworth would remain a value store, but freed the Buyers to choose more aspirational products. Charles Sumner Woolworth told his biographer, company man J. Winkler , that he had abstained in the vote, unable to say 'yes' in his brother's memory, unwilling to say 'no' as a stockholder and a businessman.

The British company went to lengths to maintain its sixpenny limit , asserting its buying power to make suppliers accept lower margins during the price inflation of and War forced a rethink as prices rocketed and cheap goods became hard to find. Officially the upper limit was dropped "temporarily".

To show neutrality the Corporation donated to war relief in both countries, funding an orphanage near London and ambulances for Berlin. The four Directors matched them penny for penny and plane for plane. Lord Beaverbrook sent a thank you letter and a special plaque. They were the first national assets ever to be named by a company. The two stores there traded independently during the occupation.

America joined the war after Pearl Harbour, sending a big troop surge in the run-up to D-Day.