They started in the UK as the "threepence and shilling" stores, or summat like that.

>Five-and-dime, that is the perfect description. I remember them from the 1960s -- along with W.T. Grant, a close counterpart -- and they were starting to seem tired even then. American retail stores went either upscale or specialized and Woolworth's couldn't adapt. Going into one of their stores became like stepping into a time warp, and not a pleasant one.
>
>>Woolworth's used to be a five-and-dime store here. It was the place to shop when I was growing up in the 60s. It switched to sporting goods and eventually evolved into only Foot Locker stores here in the U.S. I think.
>>
>>
>>
>>>Join the club.
>>>
>>>Over here an old favourite store chain Woolworths is going bust. Probably 30000 jobs going and more announcements of redundancies every day.
>>>I've got a bad feeling about next year.
>>>
>>>
>>>>Bank of America announced yesterday that they would dissolving 30,000 jobs during the next 3 years. Add that to the numerous other notices of job losses in other industries and it looks extremely bad... not bankrupt, but certainly the economy is going bust...
>>>>
>>>>Announcement here:
>>>>http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=aswiJZGC2Ca8&refer=us
>>>>
>>>>>What do you mean the U.S. is bankrupt? How come that didn't make the news?
>>>>>
>>>>>>Of course, when you consider Inflation and Currency Devaluation, they are loosing money; and there is still risk of default considering the US is bankrupt.
>>>>>>
>>>>>>Bob
>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20081212/bs_nm/us_madoff_arrest
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>Perhaps the Ponzi scheme should be given a new name?
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>Or switch to more consumer friendly names - stock market or real-estate market - same things.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>Yeah, they've been doing great, haven't they? I read the other day that the U.S. government came out with a new issue that pays 0% interest but is guaranteed not to lose value. It quickly sold out and there were three or four times as many people who wanted to invest in it than there was room for. Think about that for a minute. All the traditional places to put your money are so far in the toilet people will gladly get into something GUARANTEED NOT TO MAKE MONEY just to hang onto what they've got.