Going over a 1937 economic survey of Webb City, you find it hard to believe that Webb City had so much to offer at that time. 

According to the survey, Webb City had 10 large grocery stores as well as 45 neighborhood grocery stores and several meat markets. 

Some of the grocery stores included: Day’s Market and Grocery, Albert Herrod’s three stores, W.E. Stone’s, Richard Thralls, C.E. Berrian’s, Cooper’s Cash stores, Fly and Smith’s, G.O. Gaede’s Basket Store, F.J. Crutcher’s. Abbott and Brown, C.A. Riddle, C.W. Brown and Son, W.L. Stalnaker, E.E. Martin, C.C. Cupp, C.L. Tappanna, S.R. Tudor, Emma Kerns’ Grocery, A.J. Gooding.  L.Harris, Bert Jones, R.B. Williams, C.E. Packer, James Richards, L. Summers, High School Grocery, R.C. Owens, J.L. Owens, Drury’s Cash Grocery, J.F. Wilson, Mayfield Grocery, Matthew’s Coffee Company, Haines Grocery and Market, Karbe Grocery, Hart and Setser, W.G. Peterson and Martin Beckman. That is 39 of the 55 grocers. 

Plus, Webb City had the Webb City Wholesale (Spurgin) Grocery, an uncountable number of restaurants and cafes. 

If you think the town would have be full with all those grocery stores, there were also eight department stores to occupy the shoppers, a couple of jewelry stores, four drug stores, five shoe stores, four furniture stores and three radio shops.

Five hardware stores could be found, as well as two candy kitchens and four poultry and produce stores. You would have had your choice of 20 filling stations. If you didn’t find enough sweets in the candy kitchens, there were four ice cream parlors.

There were three hotels, seven dairies with fresh milk, four taxi companies, two dime stores, and four automobile dealers.  Most of these business locations were close to Main Street or on the West End of town.

Webb City had to be a busy town with foot traffic and car traffic going in all directions. What a hopping town to shop.

Webb City is on the rise with all the new boutiques opening in town. The inventory in each little shop along with the cutest decoration ideas make a shopping extravaganza. Unique shops with country decorations, unique hand crafted gifts, some nostalgia, vintage merchandise… you can find anything you need for decorations, gifts, or a trip down memory lane.