During the 1870s, the Alexander Brothers, Morris and Eugene, operated a livery stable at the corner of Second and Lincoln. In 1881 three new brick buildings, the Alexander, Benedict, and Reed Blocks, were built at the site. Each had two stories, a stylish exterior, and a 44 foot frontage. The Alexander and Benedict buildings stood until 1960, when the F.W. Woolworth Company constructed the present building. Woolworth's opening on April 16, 1909, heralded a new day for Hastings with the arrival of the large chain store, offering prepriced merchandise in open displays. Before then, merchants showed unpriced goods behind glass counters so that customers could haggle over prices with sales clerks. The self-service 5- and 10-Cent Store, one of a thousand Woolworths in America by 1910, ended that practice. In 1931 the S.S. Kresge store, forerunner of the K-Mart chain and a direct competitor of Woolworth's, opened next door and remained until 1960. F.W. Woolworth marked the beginning of another era for downtown Hastings in 1970 when it leased a large store in the newly constructed Imperial Mall on West 12th Street. The downtown store remained open until 1979, when it was remodeled and became home to Ben Franklin, a survivor of the five and dime days of yesteryear.