Photo by Sydney Cromwell.
Ken Rosenberger inside Rosenberger’s Birmingham Trunk in Homewood.
There are many stories about how the University of Alabama came to have an elephant for a mascot, but Ken Rosenberger is confident that his grandfather’s trunk shop is where the tradition got its start.
J.D. Rosenberger opened Rosenberger’s Birmingham Trunk Factory, which specialized in handmade luggage and travel items, in January 1897. When the Alabama football team was boarding a train bound for the 1926 Rose Bowl, J.D. Rosenberger gave each player a unique token of good luck: a luggage charm with his business’s logo of a red elephant with one foot on a suitcase and its trunk held high.
The red charms caught the attention of sports reporters and, according to Ken Rosenberger, were the start of what would become an icon.
“We have never really pushed it a lot because you’ll make a lot of Auburn fans mad, but that’s how Alabama got the red elephant,” Ken Rosenberger said.
Rosenberger’s Birmingham Trunk may not be as famous as the Crimson Tide, but after 120 years, the family-owned business is woven through the history of Birmingham. The store started out on 19th Street North in downtown Birmingham before moving to Second Avenue North for 60 years. There, Ken Rosenberger said his mother and aunt had the idea to start temporary holiday stores in Mountain Brook and Homewood. That led to the creation of a Mountain Brook permanent store in the 1950s.
“We were the first local, downtown store to have a suburban store,” Ken Rosenberger said.
Over three generations, Rosenberger’s Birmingham Trunk has had locations in Mountain Brook, Roebuck, Eastwood, Riverchase Galleria, the Summit and Brookwood Village.
“We were in Brookwood from day one [of the mall opening] until 2010,” Ken Rosenberger said.
His grandfather helped found the National Luggage Dealers Association, of which Rosenberger’s is still a member, and the business has imported products from Europe, Asia and South America to bring some of the best luggage brands to Birmingham. Ken Rosenberger said his business was one of the first in the Southeast to sell Louis Vuitton bags, which were always a popular item until the brand decided to sell primarily out of its own stores.
“We have run the whole spectrum of some of the best lines going,” Ken Rosenberger said.
In 2013, he decided to bring the business under one roof at 2712 19th St. S. in Homewood, a warehouse the company had owned for 30 years. Today, Ken Rosenberger has invested more than 47 years in his family’s business, selling trunks, suitcases, handbags and more.
The business has changed in that time. More people shop online than in stores for luggage, and Ken Rosenberger said he has seen many customers turn to national chain stores to buy products that are cheaper, though they may not last as long.
“A lot of the fun has been taken out of it,” Ken Rosenberger said.
With that in mind, he said he’s trying to decide if it’s time for the red elephant to retire. Rosenberger’s will definitely stay open through the holidays, but in early 2017 the business may close its doors for good. Ken Rosenberger said he thinks 120 years has been a good run for the business.
“That’s long enough for anybody or anything,” he said.
The decision to close is “not carved in stone,” Ken Rosenberger said, and they will make a final choice by the end of this year.
Rosenberger’s Birmingham Trunk is at 2712 19th St. S. in Homewood and is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Call 870-0971 for more information.
