Pat Marshall
03-11-2022, 08:59 AM
Webb's City was located in St. Petersburg, Florida, and was touted as "the World's Most Unusual Drug Store". It was founded in 1926 by James Earl "Doc" Webb in a building 17 by 28 feet and its peak Webb's City had 77 departments and measured about ten city blocks.
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The lyrics to its radio ad were "There'll be no more hoppin' around the town a-shoppin', Webb's City is your one-stop shopping store". It was considered a forerunner to the shopping center.
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Doc Webb's philosophy was "stack it high and sell it cheap." Webb's City was famous for strange promotional stunts: traveling circuses in the parking lot,
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zany flash sales, a cave filled with talking mermaids, circus animals, water ski shows and a half-mile replica of the Great Wall of China. At Webb's City, ducks played baseball and bunnies kissed. A real dancing chicken performed a jig for just 10 cents a dance.
One of Doc's most famous acts was selling dollar bills for 95 cents each and then buying them back the next day for $1.35. He did it again later, but dropped the price of a dollar to 89 cents.
For more than 50 years, the St. Petersburg shopping center and tourist trap lived up to it's reputation. Webb's City made $22 million a year and pulled in 60,000 visitors every single day.
Of particular interest to Forum Members was Doc Webb's giveaway of his Continental Mark II
25537 (VIN unknown).
Doc gave out thousands of free raffle tickets,
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then in a huge promotion a local boy, Dewey Eastridge, drew the winning ticket. The winner was Richard Young of Sarasota, Florida.
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The store stopped being profitable in 1973. The next year, Doc sold his stock to Texas-based Mermaid, Inc
25534
The lyrics to its radio ad were "There'll be no more hoppin' around the town a-shoppin', Webb's City is your one-stop shopping store". It was considered a forerunner to the shopping center.
25535
Doc Webb's philosophy was "stack it high and sell it cheap." Webb's City was famous for strange promotional stunts: traveling circuses in the parking lot,
25536
zany flash sales, a cave filled with talking mermaids, circus animals, water ski shows and a half-mile replica of the Great Wall of China. At Webb's City, ducks played baseball and bunnies kissed. A real dancing chicken performed a jig for just 10 cents a dance.
One of Doc's most famous acts was selling dollar bills for 95 cents each and then buying them back the next day for $1.35. He did it again later, but dropped the price of a dollar to 89 cents.
For more than 50 years, the St. Petersburg shopping center and tourist trap lived up to it's reputation. Webb's City made $22 million a year and pulled in 60,000 visitors every single day.
Of particular interest to Forum Members was Doc Webb's giveaway of his Continental Mark II
25537 (VIN unknown).
Doc gave out thousands of free raffle tickets,
25539
then in a huge promotion a local boy, Dewey Eastridge, drew the winning ticket. The winner was Richard Young of Sarasota, Florida.
25538
The store stopped being profitable in 1973. The next year, Doc sold his stock to Texas-based Mermaid, Inc