Alabama Goods expanding to Hoover

Alabama Goods, a store in Homewood and Huntsville that sells Alabama-made goods, gifts, food and more, has signed leases to expand its operations in Homewood and open a new store in Hoover.

Beth Staula, co-owner along with Sherry Hartley, said the new Hoover shop, to be located in Stadium Trace Village, was a long time in the making.

“It’s a location we’ve been considering for years,” Staula said.

Using website data that provides shoppers’ information, Staula and Hartley can tell that many Hoover residents shop at Alabama Goods, making it a no-brainer to open in the city. The owners are also very numbers-driven, allowing them to base these decisions on historical information, not just feelings, Staula said.

Still, being able to open in her hometown, in a place she loves, is special, Staula said.

“I’m a Hoover girl; I grew up there,” Staula said. “I feel like I’m in my backyard.”

Staula said the Hoover store’s products will be mostly the same (around 80%) as those sold in Homewood. The difference will be the Hoover-centric products, like gifts and other items paying tribute to Hoover icons such as the Hoover Met or Aldridge Gardens, and items with Hoover zip codes on them, she said.

In the 15 years since Alabama Goods started as an online business, it has never seen such heavy response in the way of messages and feedback as when it announced the forthcoming Hoover store, Staula said.

The Hoover store is shaped differently than the Homewood store, but the floor plan, displays and light fixtures will be the same, Staula said. The store is set to occupy about 2,500 square feet, according to a news release.

“We are very excited to be part of the Hoover community,” Hartley said in the release. “We think that Hoover residents and Stadium Trace are an excellent fit for our store.”

The store offers pottery, food, gift baskets and packages, T-shirts, hats, jewelry and more, all made in Alabama. Many shoppers will come in and tell staff they didn’t realize certain items were made in the state, Staula said.

While the store does not yet have an address, it is located across the street from ARC Realty and near MELT.

Only one to two employees from the Homewood store are making their way to the Hoover store, so more employees will be hired closer to opening, Staula said. Originally set to open in July 2022, the opening was pushed back due to construction delays.

The plan is to break ground in December, with seven to eight months of construction to follow, Staula said. The hope is for the store to open in summer 2023, she said.

The store has benefited from positive press lately, being named a Gold Retailer of the Year by the Alabama Retail Association.

“It’s tremendously exciting,” Staula said. “Doing this job every day is what brings me joy.”

The store is also expanding at its operations center in Homewood, having recently signed a lease to double the size of that space, which is located in West Homewood. The operations center manages online and corporate sales for the company.

The expansion has doubled its original size to prepare for the gift-giving season.

“Corporate sales have increased to the point where we were bursting at the seams,” Staula said. “We are thrilled to have the extra space.”