F. W. Woolworth Company Co. had the first five-and-dime stores, which sold discounted general merchandise at fixed prices, usually five or ten cents, undercutting the prices of other local merchants. Woolworth, as the stores popularly became known, was one of the first American retailers to put merchandise out for the shopping public to handle and select without the assistance of a sales clerk. Earlier retailers had kept all merchandise behind a counter and customers presented the clerk with a list of items they wished to buy. After working in Augsbury and Moore dry goods store in Watertown, New York, Frank Winfield Woolworth obtained credit
F. W. Woolworth Building (Watertown, New York) 1879. The Smith and Moore store later became a member of the Woolworth chain. In 1916, Woolworth purchased the American Building in Watertown, which housed the store in which he began his career. Woolworth planned to demolish this structure, and build a grander building in its place. Woolworth's death in 1919 initially halted these plans, but the Woolworth Corporation eventually decided to go ahead with his plans, and the new six story Woolworth Building opened its doors in 1921. Woolworth's Department Store occupied the building until 1971, when the store was moved into a modern facility. Many shops occupied the