Charles Sumner Woolworth antislavery forces in Massachusetts and a leader of the Radical Republicans in the United States Senate during the American Civil War, and worked to control the ex-Confederates so as to guarantee equal rights to the Freedmen. Charles Sumner Woolworth Charles Sumner Woolworth (August 1, 1856 – January 7, 1947), was an American entrepreneur who went by the nickname of "Sum", opened and managed the world's first five-and-dime store in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and was founder of the "C. S. Woolworth & Co" chain of 5¢ & 10¢ stores. Sum's brother, Frank Winfield Woolworth was first to venture into the retail business
Cliff's Variety Store Castro a block east of its present-day location. It was "mostly a one-man operation." The concept of the variety store originated in the late 1800s with "nickel and dime" store offering a wide assortment of inexpensive items for personal and household use. The originator of the concept is the Woolworth Brothers whose F. W. Woolworth Company experimented with goods people could touch. Before this, clerks had to work with each customer individually, handing them goods from cases or shelves. This required more clerks, with greater knowledge, and so cost more. Inflation eventually dictated that the stores were no longer able