From Woolworth's to Walgreens

While you drive down Wyoming Avenue in Kingston, PA, past the Hoyt Library, it's hard to miss Walgreens, the large brick building across from Main Bike World.  There's constantly a flow of traffic in and out, plenty of Wyoming Seminary students buying basically the entire store, and some folks stopping in for flu shots.  Open for 24 hours, whether your looking for that new eye shadow by Cover Girl, picking up your prescription, getting your digital pictures developed, or grabbing some milk and breakfast bars at 5 a.m. before work, Walgreens will be there.

But before Walgreens became the  popular "stop and shop" for all needs, what store was the top provider in the Wyoming Valley?  Of course there's CVS on Market Street, and Rite Aid not too far away in Edwardsville, however what about in the late 1800's?  Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid had not even been created yet.  So who was the top dog at the time in the valley?  F.W. Woolworth's 5 and 10 Cent Store.

It all started with Fred Morgan Kirby.  Born in 1861 in New York, Kirby dropped out of school at the age of only 15, and began working at a local dry goods store by the name of Moore and Smith.  There, he met F.W. Woolworth, also working there.  

F.W Woolworth's, Wilkes-Barre, PA

In 1878, Woolworth convinced owner of the shop, Mr. Moore, to create a section of the store where all of the goods were 5 cents.  This became highly popular, bringing in a surplus amount of old, and new customers.  Woolworth wanted to follow Mr. Moore's footsteps, and opened his own 5 cent store.  His first attempt failed, but after some analyzing and thinking, he opened another store in Lancaster, PA that became very successful.

As Woolworth had left Moore and Smith, so did Kirby, who followed in the footsteps of Woolworth.  He opened a five and ten cent store with F.W. Woolworth's brother, Charles Sumner Woolworth, in Wilkes-Barre, PA, the heart of the Wyoming Valley.  In 1887, he bought out his partner and continued the business in his name.  Within 25 years, Kirby opened 25 5 and 10 cent stores.

But in 1911, friendly 5 and 10 cent store competitor, F.W. Woolworth, asked Kirby to join forces in creating a national chain of five and ten cent stores.  Together, they created 596 stores total from the Atlantic to the Pacific.  Kirby became Vice President of the combined company, served on the board of directors, and his original F.W. Woolworth in Wilkes Barre became an important regional headquarters.

With effective marketing, fixed low prices, and attractive window displays, Woolworth, and Kirby became successful entrepreneurs.  Being the first of its kind in not only little, old Wilkes Barre, but the entire country, no wonder why they became the top dogs of drug stores of the time.

Below is a video from YouTube that shows many of the Woolworth stores.  Enjoy.

      

 
F.W. Woolworth's 5 and 10 Cent Store. Photograph.

Walgreens. Photograph.

"Five and Dime « Little Bits of History." Little Bits of History. 04 Nov. 2011 <http://patriciahysell.wordpress.com/2011/07/17/five-and-dime/>.

Denslow, William R. "10,000 Famous Freemasons from K to Z - William R. Denslow, Harry S. Truman." Google Books. 06 Nov. 2011 <http://books.google.com/books?id=D-cCeOEXGyoC>.

ExplorePAHistory.com. 05 Nov. 2011 <http://explorepahistory.com/hmarker.php?markerId=1-A-324>.


"Fred Morgan Kirby - Five and Ten Cent Store Pioneer - Woolworths Founder F.M.Kirby." The Original Virtual Museum - celebrating a century of Woolworths Stores at the heart of the British High Street. 06 Nov. 2011 <http://woolworthsmuseum.co.uk/1800s-biogfmk.htm>.