The Smithville-DeKalb County Chamber of Commerce joined the family and staff of F.Z. Webb & Sons Pharmacy for a ribbon cutting and Christmas Open House Thursday afternoon at the new 608 South Congress Boulevard location.
The pharmacy’s new soda fountain was opened for the occasion.
“It’s been around 25 years since we closed the old soda fountain at the downtown location. We found a picture of (my children) Anderson and Martha eating the last ice cream cone that Mrs. Patterson served them. I’m glad to have it back,” said Alan Webb.
“Its taken a long time to get the soda fountain done and everything is still not there. We don’t have a fountain coke machine yet but we do make our own root beer and its great,” said Webb.
“The first full day of the soda fountain will be the Monday after Thanksgiving, November 27 and our hours will be 10:30 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. We’ll serve lunch until 2:00 p.m. We are a soup, salad, sandwich lunch place. From 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. we’ll be only serving ice cream, milk shakes, and sodas,” added Lora Webb.
Established in 1881, the Webb family operated the pharmacy for 136 years on the public square until the decision was made to leave downtown and relocate on South Congress Boulevard, where there is more traffic and higher visibility.
The response to the move has been positive. “I’ve met people I didn’t even know were here in the county. It surprised me. Some of these people have been here for a long time and didn’t know where the public square was,” said Alan Webb.
The pharmacy is owned by Webb and his wife Lora Webb along with their daughter and son-in-law, Martha and Dr. Justin Hooper, bringing a fifth generation of ownership to the family owned pharmacy.
While the new pharmacy offers many of the same favorite products and services as before including a drive-thru window, there are newer attractions like the soda fountain, a gift department, clinic, and private consultation station.
“We took this underway in January and we’re in November now. When you are remodeling something it always takes a little bit longer than you think and then with the soda fountain we didn’t want to open it until we were 120% ready. I feel like we’re ready now,” said Lora Webb.
The new pharmacy is open Mondays through Fridays from 8:30 a.m. until 6:00 p.m. and from 8:30 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays. The phone number is 615-597-4185.