UK's first Woolworths that opened in Liverpool 115 years ago
It's now been 115 years since famous high street brand Woolworths opened its first UK store in Liverpool city centre. Woolworths was a US company - the F.W Woolworth Company - and in the early 20th century they sent a small team to the UK in order to expand its operation overseas.
And it was on Church Street in the heart of Liverpool's shopping district that the first UK branch opened on November 5, 1909. At a time when Liverpool's port was one of the largest in the British Empire, our city was chosen personally by founder Frank Winfield Woolworth.
The American mogul had been impressed with the bustling seaport, complimenting its industry, civic pride and superior transport infrastructure. He had been particularly impressed by city's public buildings and its "magnificent" electric railway, the ECHO previously reported.
READ MORE: 15 lost Liverpool buildings we can now only see in photographs
READ MORE: 'Pretty as a postcard' city you can fly to from Liverpool John Lennon airport for £73
For generations, Woolworths, affectionately known as "Woolies," was at the epicentre of our high streets. So loved by local shoppers in the city and beyond, it is best remembered for its 'pic n mix' selection and a stationery section adored by kids.
Sadly the Woolworths dream died in 2009 when the company entered administration in the UK. As today marks 115 years since the first ever store opened in Liverpool, we take a brief look back at the now lost Church Street branch.
The people at F.W Woolworth leased a well-appointed store with three sales floors and entrances in Church Street and around the corner in Williamson Street. The opening of the Church Street store constituted a huge undertaking.
As well as recruiting and training a team of Liverpudlian workers, they had to identify and source a similar range of products to the ones stocked on the other side of the pond but manufactured and supplied from European factories. They also had to face up to stern competition from the likes of Marks and Spencer.
Only five months after setting sail for Britain, the small team of Woolworth's pioneers opened the Liverpool store on Friday, November 5, 1909. The shop began with a number of threepenny and sixpenny lines, equivalent to the 5¢ and 10¢ products which had seen the store rise to fame in the America.
READ MORE: Liverpool pub 'full of characters' remembered for its 'sticky carpets'
READ MORE: 'Liverpool's smallest pub' seen in rare 80s photograph
Frank Woolworth's second cousin, Fred Moore Woolworth, was appointed the managing director of overseas subsidiaries, taking charge of the Liverpool store. The opening of the new store was advertised in several Liverpool newspapers including the Post and ECHO.
A pre-opening event was scheduled for November 4 where dignitaries, shopkeepers and journalists were invited to join the staff in the store tea room before inspecting the building. A local orchestra also performed for the attendees, while circus acts, and a firework display, welcomed Fred Woolworth to the store before he made a short speech and cut the ribbon.
The American was keen to tell the crowd that every worker and every product in the store was British, and that not a single item on sale cost more than sixpence. This was a ground-breaking thing for the British people as it allowed a number of luxury household items to be purchased at affordable prices.
Newspaper reactions to the dry open were mixed. The Daily Chronicle called the inclusion of hunting knives in the range as un-British, mocking the Woolworth family with a comment about the lack of wild bears in the City of Liverpool.
On the other hand, the Liverpool Daily Post & Mercury was much more generous, describing the premises as "handsome" According to the Daily Mail some 60,000 people tried to visit the Liverpool store on the day it opened, with people practically fighting one another to squeeze into the building.
Upon entering the shop punters would have been met with full fascia over the door, counters brimming with China and Pottery from Hanley and Stoke-on-Trent, a haberdashery, and a lunch counter. Most of the penny items were on the ground floor of the store in what was known as the "notions" department.
READ MORE: 'Glamorous' afternoon tea dates and fashions from 1970s Liverpool
READ MORE: 'Cosy' village with historic pubs, quirky shops and autumn walks under two hours from Liverpool
This included a range of small items like dress patterns and shoe goods, while a range of other counters dealt with sweets, confectionary, jewellery, purses, toiletries, and underwear. With Christmas six weeks away the store was also decorated to reflect the time of year - with Christmas cards on the counters, gifts in the display window, and tin toys on the shop floor.
The main home ranges were on the store's upper floor where the counters sold kitchen items like pots, pans, cutlery, china, glass and an assortment of household goods. The opening day sales topped off at £562, 6s and 11d, the equivalent to £562.40.
In today's money, the sum would amount to more than £68,000, a successful result for the fledgling shop. The Liverpool store would become an important part of UK operations, not just serving as the flagship store but serving as the British headquarters.
The Church Street store would hold a special place in the hearts of the British Woolworth's, even when headquarters moved to London, with company bosses referring to the Liverpool premises as "Store One." Frank Woolworth would later travel to Liverpool to visit his successful British store.
He was so impressed with the new shop that he commissioned a set of picture postcards of the storefront and some of the displays. Copies of these postcards were sent to every store manager across North America - according to sources close to the company this was not merely just a mark of celebration.
The Woolworth board had been full of UK-sceptics who didn't expect the store to do well and the postcards were something of a triumphant clap back at those naysayers. Frank added a small message to his postcards, which read: "The store is simply beautiful, the handsomest in Liverpool.
"Its wonders have reached London and other cities in England. Our chief competitor who has 6½D bazaars all over England is rumoured ready to give up and not fight us...
"This competitor has cut all his prices in Liverpool to 4D and is still selling very little." It is likely that Frank is referring to Marks and Spencer in the the latter part of his message, as the store had begun as a penny bazaar.
By Christmas 1909, Woolworth had secured deals for a dozen more stores to be opened across the country. The closure of the Church Street shop came during the 1980s but by then a handful of other Woolworths had popped up across Merseyside.
They all closed in 2009 when the company first entered administration. And let's face it - they are still missed.