by The Innovator of Fixed-Price, Self-Service Retailing
This nomination for Frank Winfield Woolworth, who in 1879 opened his first successful “Five and Dime” store in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His revolutionary retail innovation was selling a wide variety of inexpensive goods (initially all priced at five or ten cents) on open counters where customers could browse without pressure from clerksan early form of self-service. The fixed, low price simplified transactions and appealed to the growing urban working class. Woolworth’s cash-and-carry model (no credit, no delivery) kept costs low. He then scaled this concept through chain stores, standardizing layout and buying in massive volume. Woolworth’s proved that a low-margin, high-volume, self-service model could dominate Main Street retail, laying the groundwork for the modern variety store, discount retailer, and ultimately, the supermarket.
