At one time, Doc Webb's store in Florida had 1,400 employees. The retail mega-mall miracle had miles of merchandise and at least a few mermaids. Way ahead of his time, Doc opened the store in 1925 and it spread like kudzu. By 1951 it was bigger than a Wal-mart, but he had tricks they haven't even thought of. He would sell dollar bills for 95 cents and serve breakfast for 2 cents to attract customers. The shop grew to 85,000 square feet. The soda fountain was so long it had 60 employees. He sold 16,000 packs of cigs a day and 60,000 rolls of film a year. He invented the express check-out line (ten items or less) and eventually had 70 different stores on the lot. Doc even supported African-American civil rights before most of his neighbors and fought against high taxes...but all things must end and Webb's went belly-up like a dead mermaid in 1979.
Webb's Talking Mermaid Show Postcard, circa 1940. Note on reverse: "Hi Bud. Saw the mermaids today at Webb's City. They really talk" Collection Jim Linderman
Cute merbaby and some interesting marketing tips. Wishing you the best in 2010. The blog looks fabulous, Jim!
ReplyDeleteFascinating information. Love your blog!
ReplyDeleteThanks for following and the comments.
ReplyDeleteI have a postcard from that store, but I didn't realize it was so large.
ReplyDeleteI remember going there as a kid (born in 1951) when we came down from Buffalo & Rochester, NY to visit my grandparents in St.Pete. They used to buy me promo 45s 10/$1 and send them up at Christmas. I thought I remembered it as DEL Webb's. I Do remember the large 'dump' tables filled with cheap merchandise (lotsa tourist items like stuffed pufferfish and seashells in a bag) and I had the same comparison to Wal-Mart's when I thought of it recently. Thanks for confirming the memory of the establishment and filling in on it's history.
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