Merchants hope for strong shopping and celebrate the uniqueness of the villages

Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce President Tonya Jones has called the city’s small businesses “the heart of our community.”

In mid-March, however, COVID-19 forced non-essential businesses in Jefferson County to close for several weeks.

During and after the closure, merchants tried to adapt and make their businesses accessible to customers.

They used new methods, or ones they had employed only sparingly, including delivery, curbside pickup and social media.

The city’s merchants have also worked hard since reopening in May to make their customers feel safe to come in and shop.

Now they hope for a strong holiday shopping season to help them finish a difficult year on a good note.

Village Living spoke to several long-time or legacy retailers in Mountain Brook Village, English Village and Crestline Village.

These businesses — and business operators — have seen lots of changes in the city and in society over the decades.

They talked about the effects of COVID-19 and online shopping on retailers, their outlook for the holidays and beyond, the qualities that make the villages unique and the importance of community support for small businesses.

HOLIDAY WISHES

Especially given the long spring closure, retailers in Mountain Brook are hoping for strong holiday shopping.

“We’re hoping that the holiday season will bring people out to shop and make their homes special during the holidays,” said Julie Howell, co-owner of Lamb’s Ears Ltd. a gift shop in Crestline Village.

“We certainly need them to help us make up some of the losses we have incurred,” she said.

Michael Gee, co-owner of The Pants Store, is optimistic.

‘“The fall business is going and business is strong now, so we are anticipating a strong holiday,” he said.

Brenda Meadows of The Lingerie Shoppe expects a good season. “I feel like people are getting back in the mode of getting out and coming into the stores,” she said.

COVID-19

Howell said COVID-19 “greatly impacted” Lamb’s Ears Ltd., which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2019. She co-owns the shop with her sister, Elizabeth Gilmore Roberts.

“We have amazing and loyal customers, but even our loyal customer base are being extremely cautious and infrequent in coming out to shop,” Howell said.

“We are still not ‘back to normal’ with regard to traffic and sales,” she said in October.

The Lingerie Shoppe has been in business nearly 75 years, and Meadows purchased it in 1988.

The shop, which carries underwear, sleepwear, foundation garments and accessories like shoulder pads and hem tape, closed for seven weeks in the spring.

“Being closed that long you can hardly make up those days,” Meadows said.

However, Lingerie Shoppe is doing well given the circumstances. “Our customer base is very loyal,” Meadows said.

Some retailers in the city have done strong business despite the pandemic.

This includes The Pants Store, which began in Leeds in 1950 and opened in Crestline Village in 2006.

Michael Gee and his brother, John — both of whom grew up in Mountain Brook — are the co-owners.

The clothing retailer closed for six weeks in the spring. “We were devastated to close,” Michael Gee said.

However, he said they compensated by ramping up sales online, using their website and Facebook.

“Both of those got roaring for us while we were closed, and that really saved us to be honest,” he said. “What’s been nice is that the online business has continued to be strong even after opening.”

And the store’s business “is probably a little above average right now,” Gee said.

Customers are “still spending money,” he said.

Little Hardware in English Village was considered an essential business and was not required to close during the spring, said Frank Davies, the store’s manager.

“We’ve been very lucky,” Davies said. “Our business has seen a sizable increase over last year.”

In part, Davies attributes that to the many customers who were at home during the pandemic and were working in their yards and doing projects.

Many retail shops are coping with another pandemic-related problem — supply-chain interruptions.

“COVID-19 has affected the entire chain for our ability to provide items for our customers — everyone from the boutique to our distributors to the shippers to the suppliers and manufacturers,” Howell said in October.

COVID-19 has caused a “lengthy trickle-down effect,” Meadows said.

“We cannot get all the merchandise that we had ordered early on in the year to come for fall and holiday,” she said.

ADAPTING TO ONLINE

Online shopping “is just an ever-present issue,” Meadows said. “We try to counteract that by offering great customer service and plenty of products in the store.”

In 2019, Brad Simpson bought the long-time Mountain Brook favorite Smith’s Variety, which celebrated its 70th anniversary this year. Like Meadows, Simpson puts a premium on customer service.

“What I tell people is that if you know what you want, you’re going to go online and find it at the cheapest price,” Simpson told Village Living recently. “If you don’t know what you want, you’re going to come to a store like ours, and you’re going to get the best service.”

Most retailers have been forced to adapt to online selling, even if they had not done so before the pandemic.

“Retail may come out of this pandemic looking very different,” Howell said.

Lambs Ear Ltd. has upgraded its website and added online shopping.

“We still have a safe, enjoyable place for our customers to shop, but we also now have the option if they feel safer shopping from home, but supporting local businesses while they’re shopping,” Howell said.

Like Howell, Gee said shopping online and shopping local don’t have to be contradictory.

“They may want to shop at The Pants Store, but they can still go to thepantsstore.com just out of convenience,” he said.

During the pandemic, Village Sportswear revamped its website, began selling on Facebook and Instagram and “really went after” online business, said owner Seth Adams, who has been at the store for 25 years.

IMPORTANCE OF SHOPPING LOCAL

The Chamber of Commerce said recently that for every dollar spent with a local business, 62 cents remain in the community.

“The sales tax dollars definitely support the police department, the fire department, the schools, roads,” Davies said.

In addition, “keeping that money close at hand allows the businesses to support charitable organizations,” he said.

Meadows believes the city and the Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce have put out a lot of information to encourage city residents to buy local.

However, especially during the pandemic, people are shopping online out of convenience, she said.

“I do think our community in their hearts wants to support us and don’t want anything to happen to any of us for when they really needu s, but I do feel like we can’t say too much about how much they really do need to support us to keep things open,” Meadows said.

Howell believes the community has been supportive but sounds a cautionary note.

“I also think people don’t realize the consequences of not shopping local,” she said. “Certainly, their favorite store may not be there in the future if they don’t get support now.”

Adams said Village Sportswear has seen “a great deal of support” from the community.

He said he understands the convenience of online shopping and the fear of COVID-19 that people have.

“We’ve tried to adapt and answer what our customers are asking and make it easier for them, and we just ask that everyone remember that we’re here and continue to support everyone in the village” Adams said.

Gee sees the residents of Mountain Brook rallying behind its local shops. “There’s such a great sense of community in Mountain Brook,” he said.

“We couldn’t have asked for more from the community,” Smith said about the pandemic. “They really went out of their way to shop with us when they didn’t have to.”

VILLAGES ARE UNIQUE

The merchants uniformly declared that the villages are special and unique.

“Every village has its unique characteristics,” Gee said. “In Crestline Village, there are so many great shopping spots and also great restaurants.”

“The mix of businesses, the fact that you can find almost anything you are looking for and keep your money local” gives the villages their special character, Davies said.

“Practically all the merchants (in Mountain Brook) are hometown people and, in many cases, not just locally owned but Mountain Brook-owned,” said Frederick W. (Ricky) Bromberg, president of venerable jewelers Bromberg & Co. in Mountain Brook Village.

In 2019, Bromberg’s celebrated the 60th anniversary of its Mountain Brook location.

The mix of businesses in the villages is unique, said the veteran retailer.

“If you go to virtually any shopping center on the planet it will be the same stores,” he said. “If you go to Mountain Brook Village, you are not going to see what you see everywhere else.”

Bromberg wonders if the uniqueness of the villages is properly appreciated.

“I don’t know that people in Mountain Brook take it for granted, but I think sometimes we forget how unique it really is to have this many great businesses and a terrific local climate,” Bromberg said. “It’s sort of like we live and work in Mayberry and don’t know it.”

FUTURE OF THE VILLAGES

Howell said it’s important to remind Mountain Brook residents how much local businesses need their support.

“The community will lose their favorite stores to the COVID-19 economic casualty if they don’t come out and shop,” she said.

“We’ll always have unique and different shops as long as they are supported by our residents, especially because we also have unique and different people in our community,” Adams said. “They are always looking for something that is a little different, off the norm, something that has a little something to it that is more than they can find by searching on Amazon or Google.”

Gee remains optimistic about the future, despite the effects of the pandemic.

“Overall, I think people are getting out and coming indoors and spending money,” he said.

Bromberg expressed the hope that no one in the villages will have to close but said that the character of the villages will likely endure.

“Even if over time some businesses come and go, I believe that the businesses that replace them will be of the same type and character we have now because it serves the same public and you still want to cater to local taste,” he said.

If some businesses close, “there will probably be someone who comes behind them who will fill their piece of property with a good business, or they’ll adapt and change and keep going with the times,” Davies said.

“Eventually all of this will pass, and Mountain Brook is extremely resilient, and I fully expect the villages to keep on going and keep on roaring and not have any issues,” Gee said.