SELMA – In 2011, Jacqueline T. Smith, owner of The Coffee Shoppe, was commuting to work in Montgomery from her home in Selma when she decided to quit her job and create a gathering place in her rural community. “My…
MOUNTAIN BROOK – In 1999, when Wesley Lassen heard that the owner of The Cook Store was going to close the kitchen specialty shop had been open since 1975, Lassen asked if she could purchase the business on Cahaba Road…
PRATTVILLE – In 2007, Kasey Hope, owner of P’zazz Art Studio in Prattville, was expecting her first child and looking for a way to earn extra income when she decided to open a side business focused on art. “We started…
FAIRHOPE – Mary Beth Greene launched mb greene llc, her own designer line of totes and bags, in 2015 after more than 10 years as a sales rep in the wholesale industry. Her bag collections can be found in Neiman…
TUSCALOOSA – John “Jay” G. Newman II, CEO, founder and owner of Ugo Convenience Delivery in Tuscaloosa, along with chief marketing officer Matt Tietz have been named Alabama’s 2019 Gee Emerging Retailer of the Year. UGO Convenience Delivery was one…
NORTHPORT – Jennaration Boutique Inc. sells on-trend women’s clothing, shoes and accessories online, at three brick-and-mortar stores and through an app. “We opened our very first storefront location five years ago in Tuscaloosa,” said owner Jenna Powell, who initially ran…
MONTGOMERY – At 127 years of operation, Capitol’s Rosemont Gardens is one of Alabama’s oldest continually operating retailers. William Burns Paterson, a Scottish immigrant, help found what is now Alabama State University and served as its second president. In 1890,…
NORTHPORT – In January 1909, several brothers living in the Northport area came together to open J.H. Anders Mercantile. The store still operates out of the same location on Main Avenue, although the name changed in 1921 to Anders Hardware…
MOBILE – Brothers Melvin and Leonard Metzger opened a business called Metzger Brothers in 1919 inside The Battle House, a still-operating hotel in downtown Mobile. The finer men’s and ladies’ apparel store and furrier, now simply called Metzger’s, has thrived…
MONTGOMERY/BIRMINGHAM – The Alabama Retail Association will honor 17 retail businesses with 51 locations in 27 Alabama cities as Retailers of the Year and Centennial Retailers. The retailers will be the guests of honor Tuesday, Oct. 22, during the 2019…