Who remembers shopping at Woolworth's 5&10-cent store...?

I remember Woolworth's but I do not remember packages tied with string. I remember that it was a real treat to stop at the lunch counter for a triple decker sandwich and a coke which out shopping with my mother when I was a child. I also remember that as a teen - our Woolworth's had a pizza booth and a carryout slice of cheese pizza was 15cents. I also recall that the Woolworth's had occasional entertainment such as a mind reader who could guess a person's thoughts...

I think the Dollar Tree and the 99 Cent Only stores have become the replacements for Woolworth's but with the surprises that we once experienced when we we were all naive & more easily impressed.

Oh, I LOVED Woolworths. We had a small one in my little childhood neithborhood and I loved wandering around looking at everything. I loved the smell of the food at the food counter--although it was just typical "school lunchroom" smells--never got to eat there because we never had any spare money but always thought it was so high class to be able to sit on the stools eating at Woolworths. In college, we had a very very small one that was almost always empty (maybe no one else knew it was there) and I used to buy clothes there (starving student) and fabric to make things. Once I graduated and moved to the city, I had to walk a bunch of blocks though some pretty rough projects to get the Woolworths but I made the pilgrimage. And then when I moved out to California, there was a big Woolworths downtown that I bought a lot of stuff (dishes, pet supplies, fabric, everything it seems) from. And I was so sad when Woolworths went out of business, it was like a friend dying. And now my little neighborhood variety store (the "5 & 10" on the sign had been painted over) is closing because all the clerks and the owner are retiring and none of their kids want to take over the business. I used to buy budgies for my mom and hamsters from Woolworths when I was a kid. I was walking around looking for gift wrapping and gift bags and couldn't find anyplace but the really high end places (where a sheet of paper costs almost $10)--all the stores that used to sell greeting cards and wrapping paper and fun things are all gone.

I am told that Woolworth's in the U.K. used to have one price only - sixpence. I don't remember those times but do remember that, when I was a child, Woolworth's was the place to go for inexpensive, good quality items. All the counters were like rectangular islands with a few cashiers in the centre. They would come serve the customer when an item was held up and ring the money in the till.

Self service killed off all personal service. Even buying shoes now involves helping ourselves from racks of them on the walls of the shop, continually trying on different ones and then joining the queue to pay, if we've found suitable ones. If we cannot see what we want and dare to ask we are usually greeting with the words "If it's not displayed we don't have it."

That is 'sickeningly' called progress.

A great many of our Woolworth's stores have now been taken over by Poundland which is using the same, original, system of charging one price regardless of what the item is. They are extremely popular here but self-service of course.

In 1963, when I was just 12, I used to go Woolworth's and drool over the collectible coins they sold back then . However, since I had little money, I was primarily a ' window shopper ' . If and when I was able to save up my allowance, I would make an occasional purchase, generally not exceeding 3 or 4 dollars .

The coins, as I recall, were displayed under lock and key in a lighted, plastic revolving cabinet . Even now, some 50 years later, I can still picture those shiny, little pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, halves and so forth repeatedly passing before my eyes as the display slowly rotated around and around and around . Ah, sooooo tempting !

I also remember looking for the coins in Woolworth's many years later and having no success in finding them, since the store no longer sold them .

Yes, those were the days...They really were !

I remember brown paper carrier bags with handles made of string but not goods being wrapped in brown paper and tied with string.

Everywhere we shopped, in those days, involved being served by a worker. All those jobs are gone now - no wonder unemployment figures are so high, now that everything is self service.

Most towns in the U.K. had a Woolworth's store. The one where I was brought up did not though but we could travel by bus to any of 3 local towns in different directions (3, 4 or 5 miles away) where they had both Woolworth's and Marks and Spencers. Both of those stores were cheap and chearful and 'service with a smile. M&S are now considered an expensive store.

Many people greatly miss the Woolworth's stores. Many of my school friends worked in various branches and loved it as you obviously did/

Our small town had a 5 & 10. Saturday was not complete without a visit to the 5 & 10 where I could agonize over what trinket to spend my nickel on.

I remember the wood floors, but the brown wrapping must have been before they started using brown paper bags.

The city 50 miles away where we would go for school clothes and any major doctor visits (x-rays, my back braces, etc) had a Woolworth's and that was where my dad would take me for lunch after my doctor's visits and mom could shop by herself. (her luxury) I always felt so grownup sitting at the lunch counter with my dad.

I remember the hot roast beef sandwiches with slices of real roasted beef on "home-made' type bread and that made from scratch gravy with real potatoes. Can't find that anymore.

The grilled cheese was excellent, but none could beat my mom's homemade bread/cheese sandwiches toasted in the oven.

I was a Woolworth's Saturday girl from 15 - 18 years, whilst still at school

I did not enjoy it because I was in a constant state of anxiety over my poor mental arithmetic ( so couldn't ' reckon - up' and made mistakes at the till ) and hated waiting for my late lunch ( 1.30 - 2.30 ) that the other girls made me have

The store remained a Woolies until 6 years ago , so I remembered old times every bus ride past there, and even shopped there sometimes

I remember the five & dime stores, but I don't remember the brown paper parcels, that was before my time. I do remember the small rectangular paper sacks where they would place your purchased items. They were thin and not sturdy. But it was fun to go to the dime store after school where you could buy a lot of penny candy and they would put them into those little brown paper sacks - it made you feel so rich after you spent a nickel and had all that candy to show for it. I've heard people tell about the pulley system that some of them had to send change from the office to the cashiers. I'll bet a lot of small children were fascinated by that system - watching the baskets flying through the air.

Yes, those were fun times. I used to get excited to get all dolled up and caught the bus with my mom for a day up town.We would get a coke and I loved the grill cheese at the lunch counter there. Ours even had a donut maker that would shoot the dough in the hot oil and you could watch them make the donuts and the gals would put them in a box and tie it with string. Yes, people would wait on you and you didn't have to search for anyone to help you. I would save my allowance and buy little gifts for my family. I remember this beautiful pin I bought my grandma for 25 cents. Another special memory was Evening In Paris perfume in those lovely colbolt blue bottles.My mom bought lipstick, face powder and rouge there.Little toys and trinkets and fun stuff. I miss Woolworth!

I remember the big wooden counters with goods divided by glass partitions. When I was a small girl my nan took me into Woolies to buy a toy for 6d (six old pennies) and about 2.5p today. I chose a small metal car but the woman behind the counter said that little girls played with dolls and went to give me one. I didn't want a damn doll and my nan bless her said 'if she wants a car, then give her one!' I got my car.

I worked on the sweet counter in one store for about 6 months. We had to weight the sweets and add up the money in our heads as there were no electronic tills then just the old type that you pressed the large keys down on. Happy days!