A Century of Entertainment at Woolworths

Woolworth stores played an important role in bringing music and film into the price range of ordinary people. Bulk buying and mass production allowed the chain to drive down the price of everything from sheet music and gramophone records to pre-recorded videos and budget CDs.

In the early days, music was considered a bonus rather than a main part of the offer. The Company sold a small number of titles in depth from a national store base. It made money by keeping the range topical and by offering cheap alternatives to full price discs.

After 1970 the range played an increasingly important role in firm's financial well-being. By 1990, albums, cassettes and videos accounted for a fifth of the total turnover. By 2005 publishing and wholesaling made the lion's share of profits, despite a declining market. Today you can still buy an extensive range of CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays from woolworths.co.uk, in a proud tradition that began 3,000 miles away, almost 125 years ago.

Our Entertainment Gallery tells the story in words, pictures and sound. We have digitized over 100 tracks from a century in the High Street, which you can stream in our unique Juke Boxes or download for later.

We hope it brings back some happy memories !

Frank Woolworth loved music, but couldn't play a note. Instead he bought himself an electric organ that played itself, complete with spectacular lighting and sound effects. He loved to create his very own lightening storm! He also built a successful music department in his Five-and-Ten Cent Stores. It sold sheet music of the latest hits of the day for five cents or up to six classics for the same price.

Before the gramaphone was invented, and with no radio, television, or electricity at home, many families had a piano in the parlour for a home sing-song.

Frank helped people to choose music with grand pianos in his largest stores. He hired wannabe stars to play and sing any song to order each weekend. The idea was a hit, particularly because each sheet sold for half the price charged at a specialist shop.

Woolworth's offered a no-frills service. The business model relied on selling a huge quantity of a small number of titles, and good discipline in-store to ensure that every sheet of each popular song was sold, before it went out of fashion.

In 1914 the chain went a step further, introducing gramophone records at the jaw-drop price of 10¢. The Little Wonder Records were the brainchild of Henry Waterson, who had started his career with Columbia Records and had helped set up their studios on the ground-floor of the new Woolworth Building in New York.

Waterson had to tried persuade Columbia to back his idea for tiny single-sided five inch (7.5cm) records to complement their standard ten inch (25cm) $1 range. When they refused he engineered a 'chance encounter' with the Dimestore boss to float the idea of going it alone. Woolworth quickly saw the potential. He offered to place large orders, on the proviso that the cost price was 7¢ or less.

The records were a winner. By 1915 Woolworth was selling a million records a week through its 800 American and Canadian stores. Waterson added two new titles each week and struck gold with patriotic songs, particularly after America declared war on Germany in 1917.

Executives in New York expected that the rapidly-expanding British Woolworth subsidiary would adopt the idea when the Atlantic shipping lanes reopened after the Great War. But, despite a successful fact-finding mission and enthusiasm from the Buying Office, the idea was vetoed by the London MD Fred Woolworth.

It seems that Fred believed the 'new fangled' discs were too risky. He told his Board that few Britons had 'a contraption'. They repeatedly asked him reconsider. Later he authorised a small trial of a British equivalent label. The Little Marvel records went on sale in 1921, as a line in the 'Fancy Goods Department. Sales were good, but the MD remained unconvinced. He argued that a display of saucepans would make more money.

In 1923 William Stephenson took the helm after the tragic death of Fred Woolworth. The canny Yorkshireman decided that the best way to make records pay was to set two suppliers in competition. He signed both the Crystalate Recording Company and Vocalion.

'Little Marvel' records from Crystalate were an exclusive and carried the High Street chain's 'Diamond W' motif on the label, while 'Mimosa' was an established brand for Vocalion. Both offered double-sided 5½ inch (13cm) records of popular songs and instrumentals. Each was sold for sixpence, the equivalent of 2½p at the time or £2.11 today.

In 1927 the two suppliers made a surprise announcement. They intended to merge, pool their resources and invest in new electronic recording technology. The enlarged firm hoped to supply Woolworth with larger seven inch (17.5cm) records for the same cost price, and sell them under the name 'The Victory'. The deal was agreed. Customers loved the new high quality sound.

The merger created a potent combination, adapting quickly to changing tastes and producing a steady stream of hits every week. It became an open secret that the sixpenny records, which were either by un-named or unknown artists, were often recorded by the big stars of the day to make some extra money while under contract to another label. For example there was no mistaking the voice of Al Jolson even if the label said the singer was 'R. Cliff'.

In 1931 continued success brought a new eight inch (20 cm) format with up to three minutes per side ('Eclipse') and then, in 1935, ten inch 'Crown' (25cm) discs of up to 4½ minutes a song. By working together Woolworth and Crystalate made sure that the latest songs from the stage and screen, as well as comedians and crooners from BBC Radio, were available on disc.

They were quick to spot new talent, signing stars like Leslie Sarony, Donald Peers and Vera Lynn, who initially recorded anonymously before getting a byline as she became a radio star.

Many observers were surprised when the company announced in 1937 that, despite selling more than a million records a week, it would be dropping the range. The discs had fallen prey to a strict policy that nothing in the store was to be sold for over sixpence. Company bosses explained that price inflation had made it impossible to make a profit at that price. The range vanished for the next seventeen years.

Records returned in 1954. Tastes had changed. People wanted catchy tunes not dance bands, and made their favourite artists into stars. Woolworth responded with stars of their own, singing the same songs, released at the same time.

To this day Embassy Records remain controversial. The recording quality was superb, but they were cover versions, rather than the real thing. Some proved more popular than the original and launched artistes like Maureen Evans to stardom, while others were poor imitations.

Today the Beatles covers are highly collectable. One popular music magazine once described an Embassy 'hit' as 'better than Beatles'. Many disagreed.

Embassy Records were withdrawn in 1964, when the firm behind the label,. Oriole sold out to CBS. They later revived the marque as a jazz label. Woolworth started to dream of becoming a 'proper' record shop. Executives worked with one of the big name labels of the day, Decca Records, to create a new look which was tested in a store-of-the-future in Leicester's Gallowtree Gate. Before long new-look record departments were spreading across the Company.

During the 1970s the music department continued to evolve. Chart records were extended to all stores, along with a big budget range, including several exclusive labels, featuring everything from instrumentals to some unique, avante-garde covers of the hits of the day. The larger stores also sold musical instruments, from guitars to electric organs. It is said that Reg Dwight started his musical career recording covers that were sold in the stores before finding stardom as Elton John. Several Eighties stars claimed their first guitars or drums came from Woolies!

The change accelerated after the firm was acquired by Kingfisher in 1982. A new formula included a strong family entertainment shop, which offered low prices on chart, catalogue and budget LPs and Tapes. The stores created a new market for Pre-Recorded Video in 1984. When the range launched, its £6.99 price was a quarter of the level elsewhere. The stores went on to dominate the market for the next twenty years.

In the 1987 Kingfiaher took control of Record Merchandisers, the main music and video supplier to Woolworths. They invested to enhance and streamline the firm's systems and facilities, before renaming it Entertainment UK Ltd. Before long it had become Europe's largest Entertainment wholesaler. EUK's expertise and buying power underpinned the rapid expansion of market share for the High Street chain. By 1990 the stores supplied one in four albums sold in the UK.

More acquisitions followed. as the niche retailers Titles Video Ltd and the Music and Video Club joined the stable. They came to be known as MVC. In 1999 the Group moved into the publishing world, buying VCI Group Ltd, the name behind Music Collection International (MCI), Crimson, Demon and Emporio CDs, as well as an enviable catalogue of videos.

After Woolworths demerged from Kingfisher in 2001 the Wholesale and Publishing Division played in increasingly important role in the well-being of the Group, particularly after the sale and subsequent failure of MVC.

The Division supplied many other retailers, mirroring the growth of its largest third-party, Tesco. When the supermarket announced plans to go it alone, a major drive signed new customers including Asda, W.H. Smith and Zavvi (formerly Virgin Megastores). The Group also bought Total Home Entertainment, taking on its contract to supply Sainsbury's. The acquisition was paid for in cash, as was the purchase of the leading book wholesaler Bertrams Books Ltd.

The publishing arm grew rapidly after a joint venture was established with BBC Worldwide to form 2|Entertain. Profits subsidised poor results at Woolworths after it adopted a new strategy. The new wholesale contracts gave customers a period of credit which needed to be funded. The Board secured financing from a consortium of banks using the rare Asset-Based Lending model. Weeks later, as rumours circulated that Zavvi might declare itself insolvent, Woolworths Group sacked its CEO and announced a new business plan. This angered the bankers, who pulled the plug rather than provide more cash for peak trading in 2008.

At the time of the failure, the stores still held major shares in both music and video. Throughout the 'Now that's what I call music ... and Now...' series, the firm had consistently outsold every other major retailer. It enjoyed similar success with character brands like 'The Simpsons' and family films like 'Star Wars' and the James Bond movies. It had also built on-line sales to £30m a year, which it fulfilled itself through Entertainment UK and a tax-free subsidiary, WMS, in Jersey.

In-store the launch of budget CDs on the WorthIt! label in 2008 saw sales rocket. Some 40 track original artist discs sold for 99p. Had the stores put prices up with inflation after launching sixpenny records in 1923, forty songs would have been sold for £84.40!

Some observers consider the failure of both Woolworths and Zavvi marked a natural thinning of Entertainment capacity in the High Street as music and video went digital, amplified by the rise of the supermarkets. This may be true, but actually the High Street chain sold more albums and videos in 2008 than it had ever done before, albeit at much lower prices than in earlier years. After the collapse, Shop Direct Group bought the brand and have taken it on-line. Today they offer an extensive range of CDs, DVDs and Blu-Rays as well as software and consoles for home delivery. But Saturday afternoon shopping will never be quite the same again, for five generations used to being able to buy music in a Woolworths store at the heart of town.

We hope that our music and video feature in the Original Virtual Museum brings back some happy memories - but don't forget to visit the new Woolworths.co.uk to buy something when you've finished looking - it's a tradition that has already sustained the British brand for over a hundred years. Now that's what we call music.

Shortcuts to more Original Virtual Museum Music

Music and video overview   A Woolworth Wedding    The Girl from Woolworths   First Records    Little Wonder   Little Marvel    

Mimosa    Victory    Eclipse  Crown   Making the Records   Royal Jubilee 1935    Royal Coronation 1953  Embassy 1950s   

1950s Juke Box    1960s Embassy   1960s Embassy Juke Box   1970s music on a budget    1970s Juke Box   Pre-recorded video   

Hundred Up    There's no 'L' in music!     Music Gallery Page    Museum Home Page