"Stack 'Em High and Sell 'Em Cheap"

This study documents the story of James Earl "Doc" Webb and his business, Webb's City, between the years 1926-1982. Starting in 1926 as a small 17 by 28 foot store, Webb's City soon grew to a multi-million dollar business known as "The World's Most Unusual Drug Store." By 1970, the business grew to encompass ten city blocks, with seventy-two individual stores therein, including parking for 3,000 cars. Doc Webb's business empire included gas stations, an Outpost in Tampa, and a second "city" in Pinellas Park. At its peak it employed over 1,700 people. This work focuses on Doc Webb's innovation in the business field, his fight against price-fixing and Fair Trade Laws, his influence on St. Petersburg, his customers –primarily African Americans and the elderly –and his role in advertising and self-promotion. Doc Webb and Webb's City's long lasting legacy in St. Petersburg and in business history is also discussed in this study.