U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for February 20

WASHINGTON, Feb. 20, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Following is the daily "Profile America" feature from the U.S. Census Bureau:

NICKELS AND DIMES

Profile America — Friday, February 20th. One of the first chain stores in the U.S. opened its doors this week in 1879 in Utica, New York. For generations of Americans, Woolworth's was known simply as the "five and dime" in tribute to its low-cost merchandise. Inside were wooden floors and display tables stacked with items that sold for up to a dime. Equally famous was the store's lunch counter, featuring malted milk shakes. The distinctive red and gold signs were taken down in 1997. Woolworth's was no longer able to compete with the growing number of discount stores, shopping malls, and food courts. Today, Americans have a choice of more than 49,000 general merchandise stores in which to shop. These retailers do $640 billion of business annually, and employ nearly 2.8 million sales clerks and other staff. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at www.census.gov.

Sources:
Woolworth history: http://www.examiner.com/article/first-woolworth-store-opens-utica-ny
Interiors: http://hhs59.com/woolworth.htm
General merchandise stores/NAICS 452: http://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?pid=ECN_2012_US_00A1&prodType=table

Profile America is produced by the Center for New Media and Promotions of the U.S. Census Bureau. These daily features are available as produced segments, ready to air, on the Internet at http://www.census.gov (look for "Multimedia Gallery" by the "Newsroom" button). 

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SOURCE U.S. Census Bureau

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