The opening advert for our first store, published in the Liverpool Daily Mercury on 4th November 1909, emphasises our value credentials with the words '...the public are invited to inspect the beautiful building and big values

Value is in our DNA

From our first day in Britain our whole brand essence has been about value. Frank's biographer summarised it best "Woolworth make their money not by selling a little for a lot, but selling a lot for a little." One of the company's first mottos was "a lot for not a lot".

The challenge is, as it has always been, to amaze customers with the value of some lines that are simply unbeatable for the price - and get their trust that we only sell good, mass-produced products at the lowest possible price.

Displays of china and glassware in the first store at Liverpool before the opening. Every price was simply unbeatable

A packet of tin spoons - 24 for sixpence. A typical Woolies item. Anywhere else you would only get three spoons for the same price Simple, practical, affordable

The core of Woolworths' range for almost a century has been simple products, mass-produced in whatever country or factory can achieve the lowest price to the customer.

For our first thirty years (1909-1939) the obsession with value was kept in sharp focus to keep every price to sixpence (2½p) or less. When our American founders started they assumed that all they had to do was to ship products from the USA and it would be cracked. But American products were too expensive even before shipping costs. They had to buy locally and to think British!

Using domestic suppliers, topped up with stocks from Germany, France and Japan, they were able to halve American prices in 1909. Over the next 30 years the bar kept rising as inflation reduced the value of a sixpence; the Buyers worked wonders to keep most of the range available and to keep driving margins up!

Redefining value                          'That's the wonder of Woolworth' was a value-based TV and press marketing campaign from 1974 to 1978. It was produced by the late and lamented Allen, Brady and Marsh agency

War, rationing and inflation all started to challenge the value drive and encouraged the Company to drive up-market. The key learning was that although Woolworths could sell bigger ticket items, they had to be good value. The famous "Wonder of Woolworth" was a value-based campaign and emphasized our low prices. Kingfisher didn't get it, and gradually abandonned the low-price positioning, make it harder for customers to understand our unique selling proposition. Since demerger, we've all been hard at work to get value back on the map with low entry price point products.
 

WorthIt! is the latest incarnation of Woolworths value - a tradition that has sustained the brand for almost a century Frank Woolworth would recognise and admire Worthit!, the latest incarnation of our value tradition. It has sustained the brand for almost a hundred years!