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
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