news-record.com

After the International Civil Rights Museum opens today, everyone should know the who, what, where and when of the 1960 sit-ins, which took place at the old F.W. Woolworth five-and-dime store, now the museum site on South Elm Street.

One lingering question may persist among the very young, however.

Mama, what’s a five-and-dime store?

Once fixtures on America’s Main Streets, five-and-dimes are all but gone. Many remember the aroma of freshly popped popcorn at Kress and Woolworth, the smell that first hit customers at the entrances, where kernels tumbled in tall poppers.

Nothing resembles the stores now.

Dollar stores? Not even close. They lack the atmosphere, smells, merchandise and the lunch counters, gathering places at some five-and-dime stores.

Walmart and Kmart? They began as Walton and Kresge five-and-dimes (not to be confused with Kress). They evolved into suburban box stores, without the charm, intimacy and stylish architecture of dime stores.

In Greensboro, Kress came first, about 1905, in the 300 block of South Elm. In 1930, the chain’s famed architect, Edward Sibbert, designed his first of many Kress Art Deco gems, in South Elm’s 200 block.

In 1938, Woolworth moved from the 200 block to a new Art Deco-style building at South Elm and what’s now February One Place. Local architect Charles Hartmann, who designed the Jefferson Standard Building, created the new Woolworth.

During the first half of the 20th century, other national or regional chain dime stores were at one time or another downtown. Among them were Silver’s, Green’s and United.

Small shopping districts outside downtown — McAdoo Heights along State Street, Tate Street, Elam-Walker Avenue, Asheboro Street and East Market Street near N.C. A&T — had Moore’s, Mack’s, Reynolds and McMillan’s dime stores, with Moore’s eventually moving  to Lawndale Shopping Center.

Rose’s, based in Henderson, opened in Summit Shopping Center, expanded to Golden Gate Shopping Center and grew to a department store at Friendly Shopping Center.

Kress stayed downtown. So did Woolworth, but it opened stores in Northeast and Friendly centers.

All local dime stores were gone by the end of the century. Kress closed in 1975, and Woolworth’s downtown store closed in 1995, with its Friendly store gone the following year. Fortunately for architectural lovers, the facade at the Kress building remains unchanged.

It earned prominent mention in the 1997 book, “America’s 5 & 10 Cent Stores: the Kress Legacy” by Bernice Thomas.

Woolworth looks almost the same from the outside with restoration of the chain’s trademark red signs.

It’s often overlooked that the sit-ins spread from Woolworth to Kress. Both finally agreed to integrate, making Kress’ trademark Peachy Burger (a hamburger with a peach slice) and Woolworth’s turkey sandwiches and blue plate specials available to all. The counters became daily gathering places where black and white customers sat side by side.

The Kress chain folded in the mid-1970s. Woolworth tried a new concept, WoolCo stores, to compete with Walmart and Kmart. The Woolworth name has disappeared into a corporation, which includes the Foot Locker chain.

Greensboro’s downtown dime- store legacy remains apparent. Besides the Kress and Woolworth buildings, a red-brick structure catches the eye at Elm and Washington streets. Silver’s five-and-dime closed in the 1950s, but its sign looms large on the wall.

Contact Jim Schlosser at 601-9879 or beale1@clearwire.net