Webb Shoe Co. Closing After More Than a Century in Business

Webb-Carter store with Olwin Angell on Main Street 1920s.

Since 1909, Webb Shoe Co. has been a staple of Aberdeen’s downtown. It’s been at its current location at 315 S. Main St. since 1918. On February 28, 2015, Webb announced it was going out of business. A liquidation sale has already begun. 

This building was first known as the Champlin Block, after Oren Champlin, a real estate agent. It once housed the McDiarmid and Slater Red Front Grocery and the C. A. McArthur Hardware Company.

Jon Webb at the going-out-of-business sale

C.A. McArthur Hardware Company

Webb's 100 year Anniversary

The other early tenants included grocer B. F. Sperry, the Williams-Cameron Hardware Company, J. M. Michael Furniture Company, and the Aberdeen Plumbing and Heating Company. 

The second floor consists of large open spaces. It has been used as a meeting room by the Elks, the American Legion, and the Odd Fellows. It was once known as the Rainbow Ballroom. It served as offices for the Wilbur F. Kearns real estate agency in 1917. It was used as a reading room by the Church of Christ Scientist, and later, by the city: it housed the Alexander Mitchell Library in the fifties (when we were in grade school) after the first library building had been condemned and the building on Kline Street had not yet been built. 

In 1919 the Webb-Carter Shoe Company moved into the space previously occupied by the hardware store. That store began life as Webb-Robertson in 1909 when L. A. Webb and C. R. Robertson purchased the shoe department of Olwin-Angell Store. 

In 1911, Robertson purchased the Leader department store in Redfield and sold his share of the shoe company to D. H. Carter, of Chicago. Carter, the Daily American newspaper said on March 22, 1911, "is a traveling man, and will not take an active part in the business." Webb-Carter Shoe Company became simply The Webb Company after L. A. Webb's son Harold bought Carter's interest in 1940. The business was operated by Harold's sons, Maurice and Robert until they retired. At that time Jon Webb and his daughter Ashley ran it until its closing. 

Webb, though, is a more painful loss in that it’s a true local business, family-owned since it opened some 106 years ago. “It’s just time,” Jon Webb said of the Webb Shoe Co. decision. “Retail is a changing business, and a lot of things have changed for us.” He’s certainly right. Nationwide, retailers and the Internet, both of which deal in large quantities, can offer cheaper prices and, at least in the case of online shopping,

C.A. McArthur Hardware Company Inside

Public Library above Webb Shoes

unlimited hours. Those things make it tough for independent businesses to compete. 

Klein’s craft store, another locally owned business, also recently closed after more than a half century in business. It gave way to a Hobby Lobby chain store. 

“It’s not a sad thing,” Webb said of the store closing. “It’s just that the time has come to move on.” However, it is a little sad, and is another reminder of our changing world. For many, the convenience and savings offered by online shopping trumps supporting

local businesses. In today’s hectic world, that’s understood. 

But it’s also disappointing. Not only are businesses such as Webb locally owned, they, in turn, support the local economy. They collect sales tax and pay property tax to say nothing of making donations to local fundraisers and other worthwhile causes. That’s worth thinking about when you decide where to shop.  

Ashley Webb going out of business sale

The number of truly local businesses around town is dwindling. Sometimes, we’re more inclined to walk through them and suss out the selection and prices, then go elsewhere to buy at a lower price. That’s not necessarily wrong. And it makes sense when you’re watching your nickels and dimes. 

—Aberdeen American News Editorial Board

Editors note: I worked at Webb’s selling shoes in college. It was a remarkable place to learn about selling and just understanding people better. The Floresheim representative would come by 3 times a year and we were allowed to buy 1 pair of Floresheim Imperial wing tip shoes for $15 each time. For a kid working his way thru college that was truly amazing. If any of the other guys there did not want one, I bought theirs too. It was about 20 years later that I finally wore out the last pair I got from Webbs. The Webb's are a remarkable family and it was a time I will never forget.

—Terry Rawstern


Jon Webb is currently a Realtor at Re/Max Preferred Choice in Aberdeen. Watch his interview below about the closing of this Aberdeen Icon.  Please share your memories of this remarkable store that served this city for over 106 Years.  We look forward to reading your stories and thoughts.