As the downtown Tampa area grew, demand for retail space- especially groceries- grew. City Markets opened its two-story Mediterranean-style building in 1927. Built on the corner of Morgan and Zack streets, it boasted having 40 stores under one roof. Individual vendors rented booths, and each sold grocery items, often competing with one another. In one 1930 advertisement, seven booths are listed as selling butchered meats, one claiming to be “The market special stall where we undersell regardless of loss”.  It was a tough time for most businesses as they struggled to survive the Great Depression, and having a community building helped defray the overhead cost that an individual store might incur. It was an early version of modern shopping malls.

Robertson and Fresh, friendly competitors to the Burgert Brothers business and revered for their historic photos of Tampa, had their original studio here. In 1944, it was remodeled and renamed B&B Cash Grocery Store, changing to U-Save in 1968. The building persevered until 1991, when it was torn down to make way for a 65-space parking lot in existence today. The non-profit group Tampa Preservation Inc. tried to save it but ultimately lost the battle. According to B&B, property taxes were costing $40,000 a year, so they fought the preservation efforts. In 1992, National Trust for Historic Preservation members called Tampa’s downtown a moonscape, criticizing the craters (parking lots) where historic buildings once stood.  

 © Chip Weiner. All rights reserved