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
F. W. Woolworth Co. v. Contemporary Arts, Inc. artist Elizabeth Philbrik received a copyright for a statuette of a “Cocker-Spaniel in Sitting Position.” In 1943, Contemporary Arts bought all rights to the artwork. Contemporary Arts sold the cocker spaniel statuettes in gift shops and art stores in three different grades: In 1949, Woolworth bought nearly identically-designed statuettes from the Sabin Manufacturing company of McKeesport, Pennsylvania through the Lepere Pottery Company of Zanesville, Ohio. No evidence was provided that Woolworth’s knowingly participated in the copyright infringement. Woolworth sold the items for only $1.19. Contemporary Arts provided evidence that the version sold at Woolworth were inferior in quality. Although Woolworth’s