Photo courtesy of Jim Glazner.
Hundreds of people lined up outside of Smith's Variety to purchase eclipse glasses for the eclipse in August 2017. Owner Jim Glazner had originally decided to sell his family's business after his mother, Mary Anne Glazner, died earlier this year but changed his mind after the 2017 eclipse.
Smith’s Variety holds a special place in the Mountain Brook community, but to the owners, its importance is even greater. That made it all the more devastating when the Glazner family announced this summer that they would sell the business.
But it didn’t take long for an amazing feat — the 2017 solar eclipse — to change their minds.
Smith’s is known for its classic feel, from the candy counter to the smell of the store, said owner Jim Glazner, who works at the family store and runs a medical practice with his wife, Tammie Glazner. They opened the medical practice before his dad died in 2011. Shortly thereafter, his mother, Mary Anne Glazner, took to the ribbon counter of Smith’s.
When she died in 2017, Jim and Tammie Glazner had to reevaluate their schedules, balancing full-time jobs and a family with the store.
“When my mother passed away, I did not see that I was going to be [able to be at the store a lot]," he said. “We looked at different things and just decided, literally, that we needed to sell the store.”
So they put Smith’s up for sale. Jim Glazner spoke to potential buyers, listing stipulations such as keeping all staff members and maintaining a family atmosphere. He described Smith’s as an already purchased Ferrari — all the buyers had to do was put in the gas and go.
“Then, we had the whole deal with the eclipse sunglasses, which was absolutely amazing,” Jim Glazner said.
Initially, they only ordered 50 eclipse sunglasses. Those sold out in about 10 minutes. Then a batch of 500 sold out in two hours.
The Saturday before the eclipse, about 5,000 eclipse glasses arrived at the store, selling out in a matter of hours. Jim Glazner decided that night to purchase 10,000 for Monday delivery. It was possible, merchants said, but would take some extra work.
Jim Glazner needed to meet a retailer in Memphis with a cashier’s check, but their usual branch of BBVA Compass was closed.
Tammie Glazner called and found a location that was open in Brookwood Village, but Jim Glazner said he didn’t know anyone at that branch and thought the amount for the cashier’s check might cause an issue.
But after walking in, he saw a familiar face: Paul Bush from their usual branch in Crestline.
“He’s normally not there, but he was called in that day,” Jim Glazner said. “Everything is working.”
Jim Glazner arrived at Smith’s Saturday evening with 10,000 pairs of eclipse glasses ready to be sold on Sunday after church.
“I told my staff, ‘Go to church. I want everyone to have a proper attitude because we’re going to have quite a few folks,’” he said. “We started at noon and saw our last customer at 10:21 p.m.” And they sold even more on Monday, the day of the eclipse, as lines of people wrapped around the block. Jim Galzner described it as seeing “nothing but my friends and their kids,” over the course of those three days.
After the eclipse whirlwind, Tammie Glazner told her husband they needed to talk.
“She goes, ‘Jim, you love this. I love this,’” he recalled. She looked at their schedule and realized they could rearrange patient appointments to allow for more time at Smith’s.
It hit him: They could continue doing what they love to do.
“We realized that the perfect buyer of Smith’s was the guy that already owned it,” he said. “The eclipse days we had were the biggest days in Smith’s history.”
Jim Glazner said many of his employees were relieved, and he was too.
“I’ve had an incredibly hard time since my mother passed … and I would say this has probably been the biggest healing since she passed in the last couple weeks,” he said. “Now, it’s like I said, with Smith’s, I feel like I’m still able to hang on to my parents. Because this is what they would’ve wanted.”
Smith's will also be collecting used eclipse glasses at their store through the month of September for Astronomers without Borders, who will be giving the glasses to children in Asia and South America to view the 2019 eclipse. Jim Glazner said those who donate their glasses will get 10% off at the store regardless of where they were purchased.
Editor's note: This article was updated at 8:02 a.m. on Sept. 12 to include the information regarding eclipse glasses donations.
