Five and Dime Empire Keeps on Giving

Even before the minimum wage law was passed in Massachusetts in 1912, William Thomas Grant began the W.T. Grant Co. in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1906. He was able to provide fast inventory resupply and reliable sales with modest profits. In 1936 when more than one store tallied total annual sales of $100-million as a result of its popularity and concept of five and dime pricing, Grant began the W.T. Grant Foundation for children, adolescents and anti-poverty programs.

The stores were centrally located in downtown vicinities and on main streets, in 1972 when he died he owned 1,200 stores. These five and dime stores were prosperous selling a large variety of sundries, foods and domestics, among other retail goods, i.e., the Bradford electronics and other supplies. Bradford retail goods were manufactured in Bradford County, Pennsylvania, the county where Grant was born. Stores of significance included the W.T. Grant Store on Front Street during the 1940s and 1950s in Worcester, Massachusetts. Business continued to peak in the U.S. and stores were managed in the U.K. during the 1960s. The W. T. Grant Company's workers were unionized and when there was a strike it became newsworthy. Although known as a "five 'n dime" chain store even further discounts were offered at the Grant City stores all part of the retail empire.

The Atlanta, Georgia, store was boycotted in the 1960s due to inquiries of discrimination against Afro-Americans and this also made news headlines. The very same store was taken over by Treasure City but it liquidated in 1981 because of competition by Zayre's and K-Mart Corporation chain stores. The dinette counter from W. T. Grant of Atlanta, Georgia, is preserved and maintained by the Smithsonian Museum of American History in Washington, D.C. today. Interestingly enough, in contrast to modern retail business tactics, W. T. Grant Co. employees were advised to discourage credit shopping in the stores to encourage quick reliable cash sales. This is something many people who shopped at Grant's can remember and may even nostalgia over.

The F. W. Woolworth Co. peaked to the largest revenue of restaurant food during the 1990s. Its store first began in 1879 in New York City but later included its nickel-priced item booths while the W. T. Grant Company was at peak sales. The modern-day K-Mart Corporation is an off-shoot and modern-day comparative selling low-cost sundry and household items five 'n dime retailers once carried.

The nearby area town of New Milford, Connecticut, offered a W. T. Grant Luncheonette in the 1960s, the installation and operation of a Goodwill Industries Store soon following in the same town. Today, a Grant's Factory Direct Furniture Store is located at 190 Danbury Road, New Milford, and is jam-packed with vintage style furniture, a lot of it easy to move or buy, pick up and go, and advertises the buying and selling of second-hand furniture as an option. One W.T. Grant Co. store was located on Water Street in Torrington, Connecticut, for many years but finally closed and was replaced by a party supply store.

William Thomas Grant died at the age of 96 in 1972 and at the time he owned 1,200 stores. Bankruptcy and stock certificates hand-signed by the proprietor of W.T. Grant Co. are available from collectors and websites starting at $100. Unfortunately, the filing for bankruptcy on behalf of the stores many years later made national headlines.

Currently, the W. T. Grant Foundation and Scholars Funding programs offer well-recognized money-raising for children, youths, anti-violence for adolescents and anti-poverty outreach also encouraging mentor, peer and neighborhood organizations, language diversity and literacy development, providing funds and/or support. The latest news is the W. T. Grant Foundation recently welcomed Andrew C. Porter aboard from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. It has also established a Forum for Youth Investment and the Distinguished Scholars Program, announces prestigious awards, fund-raising and accomplishments on a timely basis.