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
Woolworth Building Columbia Records. Columbia Records moved into the building in 1913 and housed a recording studio in it. In 1917, Columbia made what are considered the first jazz recordings, by the Original Dixieland Jass Band, in this studio. During World War II, the Kellex Corporation, part of the Manhattan Project to develop nuclear weapons, was based here. Notes Bibliography Woolworth Building The Woolworth Building, at 233 Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, designed by architect Cass Gilbert and constructed between 1910 and 1912, is an early US skyscraper. The original site for the building was purchased by F. W. Woolworth and his