Photo by Erin Nelson.
Julie Gilmore Howell and Elizabeth Gilmore Roberts at Lamb’s Ears Ltd. in Crestline Village in Mountain Brook in 2019.
A long-popular Mountain Brook retailer and Crestline Village fixture is closing next month.
After 28 years in business, Lamb’s Ears Ltd. — a gift and decor shop at 70 Church St. — is planning to close permanently June 8, co-owner Elizabeth Gilmore Roberts said.
At press time, the store was planning to hold some “retirement sales” in May and early June, Roberts said.
Roberts and her sister, Julie Gilmore Howell, bought the shop in 2011 and moved it to Crestline from Cahaba Heights.
Both women expressed a desire to close Lamb’s Ears Ltd. and have more time to spend with their families and pursue other interests.
“Julie and I are just at a point where we want to move on with our lives,” Roberts said.
“We’re moving in a different direction,” Howell added.
They will not be idle in retirement, Roberts said.
“Neither one of us wants to sit still, so we’ll be busy with other things,” she said.
Roberts sells her Market 46 Granola at Pepper Place and Alabama Goods and has adult children with whom she spends time.
Howell has earned her real estate license and has three grandchildren.
Howell and Roberts stressed they are not closing due to the economic fallout of the pandemic, despite the challenges it brought to retailers.
“We’re not a fatality of COVID,” Howell said. “We’re going out on our own terms.”
“We made it through COVID due to loyal customers,” Roberts added.
Many customers were drawn to Lamb’s Ears Ltd. due to the unique nature of its products.
“We have always tried to carry items that everyone else does not have,” Roberts and Howell said in an email.
They also found success in selling the wares of local artists.
“Our area is blessed with an abundance of talent, and we have enjoyed sharing their wares and telling their story,” they said.
Since moving the store to Crestline in 2011, the women “have felt such a wonderful sense of community but also a responsibility to continue the high bar” set by the previous owners, they said.
“There is joy and a sense of accomplishment when you go to market and choose items that your customers love,” Roberts and Howell said.
The women told Village Living in 2019 — at the time of the store’s 25th anniversary — that their skill sets have complemented each other.
Howell’s professional background is in business, while Roberts’ background is in accounting.
Roberts and Howell also honed their strong focus on customer service.
“We’ve decided who we are is all about serving the customer, getting the customer what they need, what they want, helping them find it,” Roberts said.
As they leave the retail world, Roberts and Howell emphasize the importance of shopping local.
“The large online order companies of the world don’t pay local taxes, support our local schools or philanthropic organizations,” they said.
The women said they have a mix of emotions about the store’s closing.
They’re “sad in that we will miss our customers who have become friends over the years,” Howell and Roberts said.
But there is also happiness.
“We each are looking forward to having time to spend with our adult children and grandchildren,” they said. “We know wonderful times are in our futures.”
“We’ve had a wonderful experience here, but it’s just the time in our lives to move on to something different,” Roberts said.
