Woolworth went into the 1930s with 375 stores across Britain and Ireland then surge ahead. Most were in the larger towns and cities. When Norman joined the company, there were 638 stores and 768 when he left in 1939. In what pundits today call a 'virtuous circle', its buying power helped it to offer value for money that was hard to beat. As raw material prices started to rise during the decade, the Buyers were able to hold back the tide. Suppliers were forced to absorb the increases to remain on the books. Over time the price differential between Woolworth and its rivals grew, attracting yet more shoppers. Rapidly rising profits were ploughed into a major expansion programme, which saw the opening of four hundred branches. Most were in the suburbs and in smaller towns and semi-rural locations, where no chain store had ventured before. In most places Woolworth was invited in, and offered a prime spot and other enticements to set up shop.

The firm promoted its Northern District Construction Superintendent, B.C. Donaldson, to oversee the nationwide mass expansion programme. Every detail was carefully planned and had to be executed with military precision. Teams of company builders worked round the clock, getting only a few days break between finishing one building and moving on to the next. Early completion bonuses helped keep the work on schedule. 400 stores opened in just nine years. Most of the new buildings followed a standard model, like Pwllheli, Gwynned in North Wales (below, right). The repeatable formula made it possible to open a store every seventeen days during the peak season.

While grand schemes like the Birmingham flagship captured the headlines, most of the sales and profit growth of the era was generated by openings in small, local High Streets. The pace was breath-taking. Local authorities and parish councils sometimes swept aside planning constraints to attract the Threepenny and Sixpenny Stores, which they felt would help put them on the map as a shopping destination. Woolworth was allocated a prime spot at the centre of many new parades and was allowed to build using its standard design, even if this constrasted with neighbouring property. In 1934 the 600th store opened its doors in Woodcote Road, Wallington, Surrey. By the end of the phoney war in Spring 1940, the chain had grown to 768 branches