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
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