The Woolworths Virtual Museum

The first British store - Church Street, Liverpool 1909

	The first British Woolworths opened in Church Street, Liverpool on Friday, 5th November, 1909. Frank Winfield Woolworth had scouted many locations across the United Kingdom and noted them for future openings, but Liverpool was his favourite. Little wonder when you think that Liverpool was known as the "second city of the Empire" at a time when the British Empire spanned almost a quarter of the globe.

In keeping with an American tradition, no sales were made on the first day - the store opened strictly for viewing only, with customers entertained by a brass band and offered free tea in the first floor refreshment room! Among the crowd making their inspection November 5th was a reporter from Liverpool's mainly daily newspaper, the Liverpool Courier. He wrote a full report in the next morning's edition:

Woolworth's Stores. Many thousands of people yesterday afternoon and evening availed themselves of the opportunity afforded by the proprietors, Messrs. F. W. Woolworth & Co. Ltd., of inspecting their new stores at Church Street and Williamson Street. The handsome premises, formerly occupied by Henry Miles & Co., were thronged the whole time they were open, many no doubt attracted by the novel character of the business transacted. 6^D is the highest price charged for any single article in the establishment, but the variety of articles obtainable is infinite. Though none were on sale, the goods were laid out ready for the commencement of business to-day, and occasioned the visitors considerable surprise in the matter of their exceptional value. Two orchestras were engaged in discoursing music yesterday, and there was a constant run on the tea room where the proprietors supplied free teas to all who were fortunate enough to reach the room through the crush. Liverpool Courier - November 6th 1909

		The Daily Mail's coverage of the planned opening was less enthusiastic. They likened Frank Woolworth to Barnum and suggested that the Liverpool location had been chosen so that when it failed the pioneers could make a quick escape through the docks and back to America, leaving their debts behind them. But predictions of gloom proved unfounded. The well-appointed store was an instant success, with big queues forming hours before the doors even opened, and the counters virtually stripped bare before the end of the day. The team telegrammed Frank Woolworth in New York with the good news and asking for reinforcements and extra stock.

The upper price limit in the store was 6^D (sixpence), 2.5p in today's currency, or the nearest equivalent to 10 American cents. Most items were either 3^D (1.25p) or 6^D, with occasional special lines just one old penny. The fine mahogany counters were stacked full of china and glassware, all at much lower prices than in other British stores. The secret was mass production, with Woolworths placing big orders, paid for in cash, to secure better prices. Other lines included children's clothes, paper patterns, haberdashery, tin toys, sheet music, Christmas decorations, pots and pans and stationery, and - for a short while - hunting equipment (knives and the like), which Frank Woolworth was convinced would be popular in England because they sold well in Canada (a British dominion)! Within three months of landing in England, the pioneers had managed to source virtually all of the merchandise locally - exploiting existing Woolworth contracts with British and European suppliers where they could and supplementing them with many new ones.

		The refreshment room in the Liverpool store was a big success. This was a first for Woolworths and within a year Frank Woolworth was rolling out the idea back in the United States. The Lunch Counter, as it became known in the US, was a popular feature of American stores for the next eighty years.

In the UK a pot of tea was sold free of charge for the first year after opening. This was a loss leader designed to overcome British reticence to browse around in-store rather than go straight in and make a purchase. Frank Woolworth persuaded his good friend John Snow to move to England to support the buying operation. Snow (whose career is covered in more detail in our 1920s gallery), took up residence in the Buying Offices on the third floor above the Liverpool store - and brought razzmatazz and sparkle to the 43 store openings that were to follow between 1910 and 1914. Each was more spectacular than the last - orchestras, clowns, fireworks and dancers all designed to make sure that each opening was a success.

The next opening, in the Spring of 1910, was in Fishergate, Preston, Lancashire. We still have a store trading just a few doors away from the original building. After this a second Liverpool store, this time in London Road (near the University), then Manchester, Leeds and Hull (more or less following the line of today's M62 motorway from the West to East Coasts). From there Woolworth opened a batch of stores in Greater London, with openings in Brixton, Woolwich, Harlesden, Croydon and Peckham alongside a wider plan to go national.

One of these early stores survives in its original building - the superstore in the affluent South London town of Croydon, Surrey. We take a closer look at this store on the next page.

1910s Gallery Home Page United Kingdom The first British store - Church Street, Liverpool Croydon store - longest-serving Woolies Meet the team at Southend-on-Sea in 1918 United States American concerns at UK openings The Woolworth Building - tallest in the world Change at the top, on the death of Frank Woolworth World at War Impact of the first world war At the going down of the sun, and in the morning ... Just for Fun Price Quiz 1910s