Variety store The originators of the concept were the Woolworth Bros., in July 1879. Woolworth Bros. later became F. W. Woolworth Company or just "Woolworth's." On 21 June 1879, Frank Winfield Woolworth opened his first successful five-cent store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, after a failed attempt with a store he opened on 22 February 1879, in Utica, New York. Frank soon brought his brother Charles Sumner "Sum" Woolworth into the business. Together they opened a second store in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, on 18 July 1879. Before they started their own stores, the Woolworth brothers worked for Augsbury and Moore, a dry goods store in
Charles Sumner Woolworth German subsidiary, as National Socialist Party nationalism and anti-American sentiment grew stronger. The directors were somewhat perplexed by the situation, because of the high level of Woolworth investment in Germany. Woolworth's had a sizable workforce at its large warehouse and shipping depot in Sonneberg, Germany. New laws were passed in Germany which prevented profits within Germany from leaving Germany. Essentially, the "F. W. Woolworth CO GMBH" became an entity on its own. The Woolworth Company took a $2 million financial hit to profits, yet the executives tried to stay optimistic that the situation would resolve itself. As war ensued, the