90s 1879

Woolworths

Hands up who remembers Pic ’n Mix, that TV ad about ‘the wonder of good old Woolies’? And Ladybird children’s clothes? A Woolworths store was a staple of British high streets – and elsewhere – for most of the 20th century, but it wasn’t a British invention.

The first Woolworth’s Great Five Cent Store was opened by entrepreneur Frank Winfield Woolworth in 1879 in Utica, New York. His idea – rockbottom prices for the mass market in stores with goods displayed and priced where customers could see them – seems obvious now but was revolutionary at the time. The first store failed, but was succeeded by others and by 1900 there were 59 in the USA.

F W Woolworth built the Woolworth Building in New York – an early skyscraper – in 1913, but sadly died in 1919. By that time Woolworths stores had appeared in Britain, at first in Northern cities but later in London suburbs and eventually in the West End.

However, what F W Woolworth failed to do was to register the company’s name worldwide – he omitted Australia and New Zealand. In the 1920s, an enterprising haberdashery salesman called Harold Christmas opened the first “Woolworth's (with an apostrophe) Stupendous Bargain Basement” in Australia and the chain of stores is still a big name there. The Woolworth name disappeared from the USA in 1997, and after several changes of ownership, the final UK stores ceased trading in 2009. But the Woolworth name still survives in Germany, and also in South Africa.

Outspoken and controversial from the start of her career, the Irish singersongwriter continues to make headlines. She is best known for her beautiful version of the Prince song Nothing Compares 2 You, which was a huge international hit in 1990. Since then, she has released ten albums, collaborated with many other artists and written songs for films. She has always been an activist, speaking out against sexism in the music industry and child abuse in the Catholic Church.

“What I do causes trouble. I’m proud to be a trouble-maker,” she once said, courting controversy by tearing up a photograph of the Pope on TV, shaving her head, being ordained as a priest by the Latin Tridentine Church, and embracing the Muslim faith in 2018.

She had a troubled childhood, accused her parents of abuse, had a difficult relationship with her siblings and has been open about her own struggles with mental health.

Sinead has been married four times and had four children. Tragically, her 17-year-old son died by suicide in 2017. In 2021 she published her autobiography, Rememberings, and announced that she would no longer be touring or promoting her music. However, she then agreed to tour in 2022 and also announced that she was training to become a healthcare assistant. Based today in Dublin, it seems likely that we can expect almost anything from a singer who has always gone her own way.