Frank Winfield Woolworth 1852-1919
Rest in Peace. woolworthsmuseum.co.uk MMXII

Frank Woolworth had led his five-and-ten cent store business from the front for forty years. His work with the US Government in support of the war effort, the opening of the thousandth North American store, and then preparation for the celebrations of the anniversary had kept him occupied. But in quieter moments he was tired and lost without his beloved wife Jennie.

Jennie had been his nurse, mentor and friend in even-measure - the mother of his daughters and his complete personal support network. But from 1910 onwards she became increasingly distant, suffering what Doctors described as a "living death". Frank had invested heavily to find a cure. He had commissioned Doctors, Quacks and European Sanatoriums, all without success. They had made her comfortable but then, as now, had no real cure for early onset senile dementure. Without her Frank was lost.

So it was that just a few days short of his sixty-eighth birthday he passed away on Tuesday 8 April 1919. He had worked a full day on the previous Friday, but had complained of a cold as he left for his weekend retreat. He had also been suffering with toothache and (after the loss of his mentor William Moore) had been unwilling to accept treatment.

He left an impressive legacy:

• he pioneered the mass production that revolutionised retailing around the world, kick-starting American industry in Word War I
• he brought many products into the price-range of ordinary people for the first time - not just gold rings but pic'n'mix candy too
• he offered efficient and friendly service to every customer, whatever their background or income
• he built the world's tallest building in Broadway Place, New York, which was the largest of his many innovations
• he built a multi-million dollar fortune and a chain of more than a thousand shops bearing his name on two continents
• overall (to quote the New York Sun) "he won a fortune not in showing how litte could be sold for much, but how much could be sold for little".

For a more detailed biography of Frank Woolworth please click this link.

The biggest tribute to Frank Woolworth's success came from a surprising quarter - his arch rival and mortal enemy. Sebastian S. Kresge had been a thorn in Frank's side for many years. Wherever Woolworth opened a store, Kresge opened a larger one close by. Frank always said in his letters to managers that the best shop to have next door to his dime store was another dime store - because that way his quality and value would shine through. But at times Kresge must have tried his patience.

Frank would have been humbled at the thought that Kresge would close all of his stores for the funeral - as "a mark of respect". A truly larger than life gesture.

The untimely and unexpected death of Frank Woolworth left a vacuum at the top of the mighty F. W. Woolworth Co. His brother, Charles Sumner Woolworth, would not accept the presidency, but each of the surviving pioneers - Fred M. Kirby and Earle P. Charlton served as a Vice-President. Only seven years after the merger, any one of them would have been contentious choice with one part of the organisation or another. The Board opted for a compromise candidate that all could agree on. 

Hubert Parson was hired as a book-keeper by Frank Woolworth in 1892. He had applied in response to a job advertisement in the newspaper. Over the years that followed he had built a reputation as a canny financial manager and one of very few people that the magnate took any notice of. Once he famously challenged his boss, saying "You control every expense in the stores, challenging those store managers who do not put enough stamps on their letters to Executive Office. Yet you carry unbanked cheques around in your pockets for weeks at a time."  "Isn't it true," he asked Frank, "that if I dropped a nickel out of your office window here on the top floor of the world's tallest skyscraper, you would run down to the street to pick it up?" "Yes, of course" replied the Chief. "Well that is how much interest you lose every minute those cheques are not in the bank!"

Parson was appointed the first Treasurer ("FD" today) of the new corporation after the friendly rival chains merged in 1912. He went on to succeed Carson Peck as the General Manager, becoming a VP in 1916. He had helped the Founders to manage and grow their fortunes, and had been rewarded with riches of his own.

Going into the Board meeting after Frank's death, not even Parson himself had considered the possibility that he might succeed Frank Woolworth. Unlike the others he was not a retailer by training but an accountant. But the Board needed a peacemaker and a diplomat. Getting a canny financier was a bonus. He was elected unanimously. So it was that on 19 June, 1919, as the others filed out of the Empire Room, Frank's palatial office atop the Woolworth Building, Hubert found Napoleon's desk and the destiny of the world's largest chain store in his hands. He takes up the story himself in the first General Letter that he sent the stores as the Corporation's new President.

Quick links to other exhibits in this gallery

USA The $65m US merger     Woolworth Building - the world's tallest    Great war impact in the US

People Working for Woolies in the 1910s    US recruits to the UK    Replacing Frank Woolworth    Great War Memorial

UK First six stores     First London openings    The 44 pre-war stores     Postcards of the Great War    Early impacts in Britain

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