Is Woolworth (US) Discontinued? What Happened?

F. W. Woolworth opened his first successful store in 1879 in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The idea was simple: sell everyday things at very low prices. For a long time, everything in the store cost either five cents or ten cents. That is where the name five-and-dime came from.

The stores spread fast. By the early 1900s, Woolworth stores were a common sight in towns and cities across the United States. The stores carried a wide range of products including candy, housewares, small toys, fabric, and basic clothing. They also had lunch counters where shoppers could sit down and get a cheap meal.

In 1913, Frank Woolworth had a large office tower built in New York City. The Woolworth Building stood 792 feet tall and was the tallest building in the world for a time. Frank Woolworth paid for it in cash, reportedly writing a check for about 13 million dollars rather than taking out a loan.

The lunch counters inside Woolworth stores became part of an important moment in American history in 1960. Four Black college students sat down at the whites-only lunch counter at a Woolworth store in Greensboro, North Carolina. They were refused service but stayed seated. Their quiet protest sparked a wave of similar sit-ins at lunch counters across the South and helped push the civil rights movement forward.

By the 1980s and 1990s, shoppers were moving to discount stores and specialty retailers. Woolworth began closing stores and shifting focus to its athletic shoe brands. The last American Woolworth stores closed in July 1997. The company changed its name to Venator Group and later became Foot Locker, Inc.

International Woolworth chains followed their own paths. The UK Woolworths, spun off decades earlier, operated independently until it collapsed in 2008. Other international banners evolved or were sold off over time.

In 2025, Dick's Sporting Goods acquired Foot Locker, the last remaining retail business under the Woolworth brand, effectively ending the Woolworth legacy.