Woolworth's

.

.. .. .

About

Name

• Woolworth's

Retail

• General Merchandise Stores

Facts

Founded

• February 22,1879
  ^{Utica,New York}

Dissolved

• July 17,1997

Related

Key Persons

Founders

• Frank Winfield Woolworth

Key Persons

• Lawrence Burnham, Manager
  1957–1965
• Herbert Schuster, Manager
  1929–1954

Location

• 124 E. Liberty St., Wooster, 44691, Ohio, United States
• 1835 Beall Ave., Wooster, 44691, Ohio, United States

Frank W. Woolworth opened his first 5 and 10 cents store in 1879. His first attempt was to sell aging inventory for 5-cent items in a store in Utica, NY. This endeavor failed. However, he tried a second time, increasing his inventory to include 5-cent and 10-cent items. This time, his attempt to open and operate a 5 and 10 store was successful. By 1912, there were 631 stores bringing in more than $60.5 million a year.

The first reference we find of the F. W. Woolworth variety store in Wooster, Ohio was in the 1928 Wooster City Directory. Carl H. Kevan was listed as the manager. The store was located at 124-126 E. Liberty St. In the Wooster Daily Record on Tuesday, March 19, 1929 on page 6, Herbert Schuster, who was the former manager of the Woolworth Company store in Norwalk, was listed as the new manager, effective March 18, 1929. He replaced Carl H. Kevan who resigned. Schuster remained as the manager of the downtown Wooster store form many years. He remains listed as the manager in the 1952 Wooster City Directory. By 1957, Lawrence Burnham is listed as the manager of the downtown Wooster store. In this same directory (1957), it appears that a second Woolworth store opened at the Wooster Shopping Center, later known as the College Hills Shopping Center. Two Woolworth stores remained in operation in Wooster through the 1964-1965 Wooster City Directory. By 1967, Gray Drug had moved into the old Woolworth location as 124 E. Liberty St. The Woolworth store in Wooster closed its door in 1993. The final store to close in the United States occurred on 17 July 1997. At this time, the name of the company was changed to Foot Locker Inc.

Quick Facts

• 1928 - 1st listing of F. W. Woolworth Company in the Wooster City Directories, Carl H. Kevan, Manager, store located at 124-126 E. Liberty St., Wooster
• 1929 - Herbert Schuster takes over as manager of F. W. Woolworth, upon the resignation of Carl H. Kevan
• 1932 - F. W. Woolworth Company, Herbert Schuster, Manager
• 1943 - F. W. Woolworth Company, Herbert Schuster, Manager
• 1948 - Woolworth Building, located at 126-1/2 E. Liberty St.
• 1948 - F. W. Woolworth Company, Herbert Schuster, Manager
• 1954 - F. W. Woolworth Company, Herbert Schuster, Manager and Robert McLaughlin, Assistant Manager
• 1957 - 2nd location appears in the Wooster City Directories
  • Lawrence Burnham, Manager of 124 E. Liberty St. store
  • Joseph Parks, Manager of 1835 Beall Ave. store
• 1967 - only one location listed in the Wooster City Directories, store located at the Wooster Shopping Center at 1835 Beall Ave.
• 1993 - last listing of F. W. Woolworth Company in the Wooster City Directories, John Stern, Manager