Frank Winfield Woolworth Frank Winfield Woolworth Frank Winfield Woolworth (April 13, 1852 – April 8, 1919) was an American entrepreneur and the founder of F. W. Woolworth Company and the operator of variety stores known as "Five-and-Dimes" (5- and 10-cent stores) or dimestores, which featured a low-priced selection of merchandise. He pioneered the now-common practices of buying merchandise directly from manufacturers and fixing the selling prices on items, rather than haggling. He was also the first to use self-service display cases, so customers could examine what they wanted to buy without the help of a sales clerk. Frank Woolworth was born in Rodman,
F. W. Woolworth Company succeeded Burcham(1913-1987) as chairman-CEO in 1978 and died in office, succeeded by vice chairman John W. Lynn(1921-2013) who was succeeded in 1986 by president(since 1983, replacing Richard L. Anderson(d. 2015)) Harold Sells. Farah joined the company as chairman and CEO in December 1994 and Hennig was replaced by Dale W. Hilpert as president in May 1995. F. W. Woolworth Company The F. W. Woolworth Company (often referred to as Woolworth's or Woolworth) was a retail company and one of the original pioneers of the five-and-dime store. It was arguably the most successful American and international five-and-dime business, setting trends and