Webb's

Webb's a.k.a. H. S. Webb, was a department store based in Glendale, California, the first in that city.

Origins

The store was founded by Harry S. Webb (d. 1947) in 1917 in Downtown Glendale in a single room.[1][2] It had locations in the Glendale Fashion Center and in Redlands, California.

Ned Blanc purchased the store from Webb in 1949 but kept the name.

In 1951 Blanc expanded the original store at 139 N. Brand into the adjacent Lawson Building.[3]

There was a fire at the store in 1977. Webb's moved to a former J. C. Penney store about half the size of Webb's original store, on the southeast corner of Brand Blvd. and California Avenue.

Glendale Fashion Center

Two years later, it moved to the Glendale Fashion Center in a space vacated by Joseph Magnin when that store moved to the Glendale Galleria. Webb's expanded the space from 30,000 to 67,500 square feet and moved into it on September 27, 1979.[4][1]

Decline

For half a century, Webb's was the only major department store in the city. Competition first came from J. W. Robinson's which opened in the Glendale Fashion Center in 1966, and then from the Glendale Galleria, which opened in 1976 and a second phase in 1982; that mall offered branches of The Broadway, Buffums, J. C. Penney, Mervyn's and Nordstrom.

Sales peaked at $8 million in 1974, but averaged about $5 million per year during its last six years in business. The Glendale store closed in 1985 due to falling sales. It had 30,000 charge account holders at that time.[1]

Redlands store

The Redlands store measured 42,000 square feet and opened on August 30, 1973[5] in the Citrus Village shopping center, a small center with 16 specialty stores.[6]

References
  1. Walker, Theresa (6 June 1985). "Glendale's 1st Department Store Falls to Competition : Sale to End Webb's 67-Year Reign as Retailer". Los Angeles. Retrieved 3 May 2019.
  2. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/53036300/obituary-for-harry-s-webb-aged-70/
  3. "Glendale Store Expansion Set". Los Angeles Times. October 21, 1951.
  4. "Webb's Store Schedules Move to Glendale Facility". Los Angeles Times. September 16, 1979.
  5. "Webb's Opens Tomorrow". Redlands Daily Facts. August 29, 1973.
  6. "Glendale Store Will Open Redlands Branch". San Bernardino Sun. December 24, 1972.
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