Welcome to the Original Virtual Museum - celebrating Woolworths' century at the heart of British High Street Shopping
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please click a menu button Original Virtual Museum Home Page please click a menu button The Woolworth value store concept is born in the USA please click a menu button Laying the foundations as the first British Woolworth store opens in Liverpool in November 1909 please click a menu button Woolworths rapidly open forty-four stores in Britain and Ireland before facing a World War please click a menu button Bigger, brighter and bolder Woolworth stores in the Roaring Twenties please click a menu button Woolworths go to amazing lengths to keep all prices under sixpence in the Thirties please click a menu button Bravery and defiance during World War II in Woolworths' finest hour. We pay tribute to the sacrifices made and look behind the scenes please click a menu button Redefining the Woolworth brand for modern times in the 1950s, as prices go up and stores get bigger and bigger please click a menu button Superstores in and out of town, a new own brand and the opening of overseas Commonwealth stores during the 1960s please click a menu button Woolworth struggles to keep up during the rapid inflation and change of the 1970s please click a menu button Woolworth stores in more recent times, covering the period 1980-2008 please click a menu button
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Background to the Original Virtual Museum and copyright information about the contents Origins of the firm's legendary pic'n'mix and a century of chocolate, candy and confectionery in the High Street A century of music and entertainment in the High Street from sheet music and gramophone records to CDs and blu-ray discs A century of toys, games and fun in the High Street stores of F. W. Woolworth A century of fashion in the High Street, from paper patterns and sixpenny knickers to an extensive range of award-winning Ladybird clothing A century of cards, pens, pads and books from the shelves of F. W. Woolworth stores Pots and pans, paint and brushes, bulbs and compost and even toiletries - all in High Street Woolworth stores for much of the twentieth century Woolworths pioneered Christmas decorations in the 19th century and supplied presents for our parents, grandparents and great grandparents from their High Street stores Working conditions and pay rates at Woolworths over a hundred years and some of the people behind the brand-name Our cinema, quiz and picture gallery features Visit the new look 21st century Woolworths on line, on the site operated by Shop Direct Group
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Yankee Doodle Candy in the Nineteenth Century

Frank Winfield Woolworth - founder of the legendary retail store chain and the brains behind the world's first budget weigh-out sweets, which came to be known as Pic'n'Mix in the British store chain

 

 

Frank Woolworth maintained the popularity of his stores by always trying something new. This constant innovation helped him to stay ahead of the competition. His goal was to amaze customers at the sheer variety of items that their 5¢ or 10¢ could buy.

In 1886 he decided to tackle the sweets market, believing that it should be possible to bring the prevailing price of the day of around 25¢ for a quarter pound (about 8p for 125 grams) down to just 5¢. This would bring 'candy', as the Americans call sweets, into the price range of ordinary people, rather than keeping it for rich people to buy in department stores.

This is the story of how he did it.

 

The F. W. Woolworth management in the USA, pictured in 1884Woolworth told his management team about his vision of a large candy counter at the front of each store, offering all manner of sweets and confections from which customers could choose an assortment for 5¢ a quarter, expecting a good reaction.

Instead they told him he was bonkers! First, they believed, he would never be able to make it pay, as he would need to get the cost price down to just 12¢ a pound (about 10p a kilo) to achieve a reasonable margin. Second they thought it would be hard to manage, as they would need new fixtures and weighing scales, as well as new disciplines to handle the sweets hygienically.

Frank thanked them for their feedback, and took no notice, pushing right ahead!

 

Broadway, New York where Frank Woolworth set up a small buying office at Room 57 of the Stewart Building, No. 280 Broadway. The picture postcard view is from about 1886From his single-room buying office in the Stewart Building, Broadway, New York, the young entrepreneur put the word out that he was interested in buying candy. At the time manufacturers rarely dealt directly with retailers, prefering to use a wholesaler as a middle-man. This made Frank's request particularly challenging. Despite touring local factories and evangelising the idea, while he could find people willing to trade, all thought his 3¢ a quarter offer was too low and that such a price could not be achieved.

Undaunted Woolworth conducted market research. He asked passers-by whether they would buy candy for 5¢ a quarter, and if there were any barriers that would discourage them making a purchase. A number of people pointed out that others had offered cheap candy on market stalls, but had compromised on the manufacturing quality, leading to a much publicised spate of food-poisoning cases across the City. Most said that they would be pleased to buy candy if they were satisfied that it was 'hygienic'. They indicated that they were more likely to trust an established chain of shops like the Woolworth Five-and-Ten.

 

An artist's impression of the premises of the small New York sweet factory of D. Arnould & Co. They saw sales rocket after their offer to Woolworths was accepted, always getting first refual on any new request to supply

 

Just when Woolworth was losing hope of finding a candy supplier, he received a call from Mr. D. Arnould, the owner of a small factory with its own shop. He invited Frank to pay him a call.

Woolworth found Arnould pleasant and approachable. The confectioner was unphased by the large quantity that the Five-and-Ten proprietor expected to sell, and believed that he could achieve the target price. Woolworth offered up-front payment, and to contribute towards any extra equipment that would be needed to handle the order.

 

The next day Arnould called at Woolworth's office. He had made a list of all the varieties of sweet that he could produce at a cost of 3¢ a quarter. While the list wasn't comprehensive, it included chocolate candy, boiled sweets and toffees, and was more than enough to win the order. The two men shook hands, and went on to make history! The opening order was for a trial run of 100 lbs (about 40 Kg) of sweets.

 

In 1886 Customers had to pay at least 25 cents a quarter for their sweets, until F. W. Woolworth entered the marketThe sign boasted Finest American Candy for 5 cents a quarter in the Autumn of 1886. Frank Woolworth made sure that all of his sweets were made to the highest possible standard.As Arnould scaled up his production, Woolworth commissioned new counters and ordered weighing scales and promotional signs. The entrepreneur deliberately copied the style of ticketing from the Macey's department store, aiming to play up the 80% drop in price! As well as banners to stand in shiny frames on the top of the counter, he also specified small triangular tickets for the individual sweets. He chose a reverse print design with a chocolate brown background and white writing. The same styling was used until Word War II.

 

The first candy counters in Woolworths were made of mahogany with glass tops. This one was pictured in Binghampton, New York in the 1910sThe new candy counters looked spectacular. A section of the firm's standard mahogany island counter was adapted to make it lower, adding a glass case, sloping backwards just a little. Inside the case, glass partitions made compartments for the different types of sweet. Each was crammed full with one of the brightly coloured confections, including chocolates, mints and toffees.

Like the tickets, the layout aped the displays at Macey's. Some delicatessen counters in supermarkets are a similar shape to this day, although the modern incarnations tend to be made of stainless steel or plastic rather than mahogany.

Woolworth chose his prettiest clerks to serve on the sweet counter. They were issued with an extra large scoop and a ready-reckoner table with the price for every conceivable weight. The stores were instructed to give away any mis-shapen or unwrapped sweets as samples to tempt customers. When the counters were unveiled in Autumn 1886, they were an instant hit. Arnould worked night and day to meet the demand.

 

Word of Mr Arnould's good fortune soon reached other confectioners. As sales rocketed he became wealthy. Before long the sceptics fell into line, sending Frank Woolworth samples and requesting his business. The Founder drove a hard bargain, offering much lower margins than he paid to Arnould. Frank Woolworth always favoured those partners who gave him a break, remaining loyal and giving them first refusal for any new line. Over the next thirty three years the chain ordered 4,400,000 lb (1,973 tonnes) of sweets from Arnould.

 

A Halloween Candy Window at a Woolworths five-and-ten in the USA in the 1920sCandy for Valentines Day in the window of a Woolworts store on the West Coast of the USA in the 1920s - just ten cents!

 

For the next seventy-five years, both in North America and later in Britain, a favoured technique of promoting sales of weigh-out sweets was to assemble elaborate window displays. Sometimes these featured new lines, but more frequently they were dressed with candy for special events like Halloween, Valentine's Day or Thanksgiving. We are proud to be able to share photographs of some of the windows that graced Main Streets across the USA and Canada in the 1910s and 1920s.

The century-old album contains a closely-guarded secret from the early days. Company rules dictated that each window had to be restocked every two days. The hard work was expected not to improve the display, but to make sure that the sweets were still in a good enough condition to sell after they had been on show!

 

Marshmallows - recommended for Sunday lunch - ten cents a half pound at Woolworths in Kansas City, USA in 1927 (left) and Fruit Tablets (half a pound for 10c) at the San Francisco, California store

 

George Washington's birthday was the inspiration for these elaborate displays of candy in the F. W. Woolworth stores at Atlantic City (left) and Baton Rouge (right) in 1926

 

Midget Mints - half a pound for ten cents at Woolworths in Buffalo, New York in 1924

 

Fast links to Original Virtual Museum exhibits

Pic'n'Mix and Sweets Gallery

Yankee Doodle Candy    Tuppence a Quarter    Visit a 1930s Sweet Factory

Rationing in World War II   A new world - the 1950s    Building a legend

Europe's biggest sweet shop     Candy Kings?    The Good Ship Lollipop

Museum Navigation

Pic'n'Mix and Sweets Gallery     Home Page    Interactive

 
Fully illustrated 194 page history of Woolworths, or a selection of professionally authored DVDs in our on-line shop