Woolworth Case

Woolworth Company

C. Were customers’ needs changing? Did the retailer fail to adapt to changing needs?

• As the culture changed after World War II, Woolworth's importance waned. As other chains emulated Woolworth's low-cost approach, it became little more than another department store.

• Its workforce aged with its clientele as it failed to change with the times

• When they consolidated Woolworth and Woolco in one division in 1972, they ended up only blurring the identity of each chain.

• They put more emphasis on their specialty stores instead of their department stores which were the real money makers.

D. Where were they located geographically? what locations were used (e.g., shopping malls, strip malls, stand alones..etc)? Did the attractiveness of these locations diminish over time?

• In 1911, Woolworth became the first retail company to operate stores in all forty-eight states.

• Expanded into England in 1909, then Germany, Canada, South Africa, and elsewhere.

• Serve as anchors for suburban strip centers and shopping malls in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.

• The growth and expansion of the company contributed to its downfall. The Woolworth company moved away from its five-and-dime roots and placed less emphasis on its department store chain as it focused on its specialty stores

• Woolworth’s was easily copied and five and dime stores popped up everywhere, so yes the originality was eventually gone and so the attractiveness of the stores started to wane as Woolworth’s just became another store.

E. What merchandise and/or services were offered? Did they manage their merchandise assortments poorly?

• One of the original American five-and-dime stores

• Sold discounted general merchandise at fixed prices undercutting the prices of other local merchants

• Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, consumer electronics and house ware

• One of the first American retailers to put merchandise out for the shopping public to...