Iconic Indiana Department Store Lunch Counter is Making a Comeback 

When I was a kid, I had a bigger connection to the legendary F.W. Woolworth Company than I realized at the time. The iconic "five & dime" brand branched out and into the world of the big box store with the introduction of Woolco in 1962. A decade later, we had one at the end of the street where I grew up.

Woolworth's

It wasn't until years later, into adulthood, when I connected the "Wool-" dots. Ironically enough, my final experience with the Woolworth name did not take place at the end of my street, but rather in downtown Bowling Green, Kentucky, where a Woolworth 5 & 10 had been a fixture for decades. It closed in 1987. There was nothing quite like doing a little browsing or shopping and then having lunch at the lunch counter, an amazing old retail fixture that you just don't see anymore.

Well...not yet, anyway.

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Woolworth's Indiana Origins

What I've recently learned is that the very first F.W. Woolworth lunch counter or luncheonette, a trademark of the chain, opened in 1923 at the New Albany, Indiana, location. A popular spot to grab a quick bite, the Woolworth luncheonettes became a key component in the Woolworth experience.

The Woolworth's Lunch Counter Comeback

Those experiences are set to make a return to American pop culture three years after the last one closed in 2022. However, unless you make a trip to Bakersfield, California, that experience will pass you by. That's the location of that Woolworth's lunch counter, and it is in the process of a massive remodel in anticipation of an August 15th reopening date. It was originally scheduled to be completed this month, but we all know the tale of the "best laid plans."

Anyway, I'm hoping this will inspire the consideration of other Woolworth's lunch counter reopenings. Old five & dime stores like that should not be a thing of the past. Bring them back, and let them flourish.