First known as Sears and Roebuck of Chicago, the company’s name appeared in 1919 local advertisements selling Encyclopedia Britannica. As the “roaring 20s” approached, retail was big. Names like Sears and Roebuck and Montgomery Wards started thriving, opening local retail and very successful mail-order businesses sold through catalogs. Some readers might be amazed that until 1940, a consumer could order an entire kit house through a Sears catalog.

In 1922, this location housed the United Motor Company. In 1928 Sears opened its first store here and lasted a little over a year until moving to their new larger store at Florida Avenue and Polk Street. In 1929, United Motor Company resumed its occupancy, and by the late 1930s, it was Humphry’s used cars. The final stop for retail cars at this corner was Holtsinger Motor Company in 1941. Soon thereafter, the building became the headquarters for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, which took up residence until the mid-1950s. The building was demolished and is now a parking lot for the burgeoning Tampa Heights area.

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