Frank Winfield Woolworth was born in 1852 on his grandfather's farm, 40 miles from the Canadian border in New York State.

When he turned 19, Woolworth was so anxious to jumpstart his sales career that he offered to work for free at Augsbury-Moore, a dry goods firm.

After two and a half years, Woolworth had increased his salary from zero to $6 a week. He left the company for a dry goods firm that offered an incredible $10 a week, but his employers were not impressed with his performance and cut his salary to $8 a week.

In 1877, his old employer at Augsbury-Moore, who had been impressed with Woolworth's work, offered to match the $10 a week, and he returned. After two more years with the company, Woolworth convinced his boss to lend him the money to open his own "Great 5-Cent Store" in Utica. It flopped.

Woolworth tried again, in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. This time, it was a success. He later added 10-cent items, creating the first "Five and Dime." Many imitators were to follow.

A generation grew up buying sodas from lunch counters in "dime stores," a term that is rapidly disappearing as 10?cent items become more and more scarce.

In its heyday, Woolworth had more than 2,100 variety stores throughout the world, but as the 20th century drew to a close, large discount stores such as Wal?Mart replaced the Five and Dime. Woolworth announced it would close its American dime stores.