Five and dime stores sold affordable household items at discounted prices. The concept began with FW Woolworth stores in the late 19th century. Woolworth opened the first five and dime in Utica, NY in 1879, offering items costing a nickel. He expanded and added lunch counters. Other retailers opened successful chains, some becoming mega-retailers. Dime stores faced increased competition and lost supply sectors to discounters. Dollar stores became popular as items costing 10 cents or 5 cents became rarer.
A five and dime is a store that sells a variety of affordable household items at discounted prices. The name five and dime refers to a category of stores that became popular in the late 19th century. The concept of the store began with the FW Woolworth stores which flourished in the United States and became the forerunner of discount stores and dollar stores.
The first five and dime was opened by Frank Winfield Woolworth in 1879 in Utica, New York, but it only offered items costing a nickel. Woolworth had already experimented with the concept of a dime table, a precursor to a clearance table, at a dry goods store where he had worked. After the first store did poorly, Woolworth changed his plan and offered items that cost five cents or 10 cents. He expanded and opened more stores, some of which failed while others were successful. In the late 19th century, Woolworths owned 19 dime and dime stores across the United States.
The variety of items in these shops and the lower prices attracted immigrants and the poorest sections of the population. Woolworth added lunch counters that offered inexpensive restaurant food and added another attraction for price-conscious shoppers. To offer its wares at lower prices than department stores, Woolworth negotiated its own deals with store owners, effectively eliminating the middleman.
Other retailers were opening their own successful chains. Some of the more popular stores in the early 20th century included Ben Franklin, Duckwall-ALCO, and Walton’s Five and Dime. Some of these stores served as forerunners of discount stores and convenience stores as they changed and evolved to include higher prices and a greater variety of items. Kress’s store eventually became mega-retailer K-Mart, while Walton’s became Walmart.
Due to economic changes in the 1970s and 1980s, dime stores gradually faced increased competition from more specialized discounters. Ultimately, the five and dime lost various sectors of their supply to discount drug stores, home office stores, and discount clothing stores. Shoppers began flocking to suburban areas to shop, spending less time in downtown areas where many dime stores operated.
As items costing 10 cents or XNUMX cents became rarer and inflation mounted, dollar stores became popular. Some dollar stores only stock items that cost one dollar, while other dollar stores offer items that cost other prices. The term dollar store generally refers to a small store that offers inexpensive items at a discount, a concept not far removed from the original concept of a dime store.
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