The best and worst of times

The outbreak of World War II brought a halt to Woolworth's mass expansion in the UK, and finally put paid to its sixpenny price limit after 31 years.

Conscription started to bite, depleting store and stockroom management. Before long female supervisors and sales assistants were also in demand for factory work and the land army. Even the Woolworth Chairman was not immune, as Churchill invited him to head Aircraft Production for the RAF. William Stephenson picked twenty managers from the London stores to join him, taking over the branch in Church Street, Croydon, south of London, (No. 234) as his HQ.

To fill these gaps many retirees were called back. Most managed and manned the larger stores, while in the smaller branches the long-serving women who had traditionally guided and moulded young managers finally got the recognition they deserved.

On top of their store duties, many also volunteered for roles in the Community, taking leading roles in the ARP (Air Raid Precautions), Auxiliary Fire Service, Women's Voluntary Service and Auxiliary Nursing Service, as well as fund-raising to support the War Effort.

Initially it was very different in North America. Canada, a British Dominion, joined the war, while the US remained neutral. America prospered and blossomed until the end of 1941.

The peace was shattered by the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, forcing the country to mobilize. The response was awesome. Gross national product doubled as the whole nation got to work either on the home front or in military service. Sugar, meat and coffee were rationed and prices at the shops were controlled, as people were encouraged to "make do or do without".

Woolworth's reputation for thrift and economy helped it to prosper, boosted by its central role in the sale of war bonds - a scheme pioneered by its Founder back in 1917.

By the end of the War the European stores had been decimated. Over half of the outlets in Germany had been razed to the ground, with 44 lost in Britain and 326 damaged. When the time came to rebuild, it offered an opportunity to reshape the business for the future.

1940s War Austerity and Recovery Gallery

Finest Hour: World War II in the Woolworths Museum

A world apart in 1939/40

Fire from the sky as cities face The Blitz

Woolies buy two Spitfires for the RAF

Channel Island Occupation

Rationing & Price Rises

Home front defiance

D-Day 'Home from Home'

V1 and V2 rockets and the darkest hour

Reconstruction and Austerity

High bandwidth wartime history pages:

New Cross Memorial

Staff War Memorial

Picture Gallery

Days after the original Woolworth superstore in Old Town Street, Plymouth was destroyed by enemy action in Wolrd War II, it re-opened in Plymouth market