The Nickel & Dime Empire

Frank Winfield Woolworth grew up poor. When he turned twenty years old Woolworth went to work for William Harvey Moore as a store clerk. In 1878 a traveling salesman told the store’s management where Woolworth worked to set up a counter of goods to be sold at five cents a piece. The goods sold at a fast pace. The traveling salesman gave Woolworth the incentive to open his own five-and-ten store.

Woolworth opened his first store on February 22, 1879 in Utica, New York. He promised himself he would never be in debt again. Woolworth’s employers backed his dream by loaning him $315.41. He kept his promi

The year 1915 was not a good one for the five-and-dime mogul. Woolworth’s general manager Carson Peck died and his cousin Seymour Knox. His wife was also showing signs of Alzheimer’s disease. Woolworth’s own health was failing. In 1917 his friend Moore died. In 1918 Woolworth’s daughter Edna died. Woolworth died on April 8, 1919. He left sixty-five million dollars to his wife. Unfortunately she died five years later and the estate was divided between his remaining daughters and granddaughter. This was not the end of the Woolworth chain. The chain stayed in business for seventy-eight years after Woolworth passed away.

Once again Woolworth made history by building one of the tallest buildings in the world. In 1913 architect Cass Gilbert built the Woolworth Corporation headquarters in Manhattan. The building was 792 feet tall and some of the ceilings were as high as twenty feet tall. This was the tallest building until the Chrysler building was built in 1930. The building cost $13.5 million dollars. He paid for the building in cash, keeping his promise to himself not to go in debt again.

The author goes into more detail about the closing of Woolworth stores than the death of Jimmy Stewart. The author goes into more detail about the closin

Some topics in this essay:
Seymour Knox, Woolworth Europe, Jimmy Stewart, Woolworth Corporation, Harvey Moore, Stewart July, Fourteenth Street, Eightieth Street, Rodman York, Utica York, woolworth stores, woolworth store, closing woolworth stores, nickel dime empire, eightieth street, food counters, remember woolworth, store manhattan, author goes detail, five-and-ten store, goes detail closing, manhattan store, detail closing woolworth, goes detail, author goes,