Homewood shops honored in Alabama Retail Day

Two Homewood retailers were among the honorees at today's Alabama Retailers of the Year awards, held at Vestavia Country Club.

This was the 18th year of the awards, and the winners were chosen from more than 90 nominees in the following categories: Annual Sales Less Than $1 Million; Annual Sales $1 Million to $5 Million; Annual Sales $5 Million to $20 Million; Annual Sales More Than $20 Million; Gee Emerging Retailer of the Year Award; and the Customers' Choice Award.

Komeh Davis' bakery CakEffect took home a silver award in the Annual Sales Less Than $1 Million, and David and Andrea Snyder's Urban Cookhouse chain also earned a silver award in the Annual Sales $5 Million to $20 Million category.

Additionally, six businesses statewide were recognized as Centennial Retailers: Ousler Sandwiches, Fairhope Pharmacy, Edwards Chevrolet, Books-a-Million, Chris' Hot Dogs and McCurry Furniture.

In total, 20 Alabama retailers were honored at the lunch ceremony.

Prior to the awards ceremony, Bayer Properties founder Jeffrey Bayer spoke to the crowd of retailers about the future of local and national business. While many are concerned with the "coming retail apocalypse" of growing online sales, Bayer said he believes brick-and-mortar stores and malls can still have a significant place in the future U.S. economy.

The recent trend of stores closing nationwide is a "natural evolutionary process" in response to overdevelopment of retail.

"As we had that boom for 10 or 15 years, now we're paying the price," Bayer said.

He pointed to new projects like the Pizitz Building downtown and developments that mix shopping, offices, entertainment and living space as the likely next trend to cater to younger demographics.

"Change is inevitable and we need to address it here and now" to be successful, Bayer said.

For a full list of this year's winners, visit the Alabama Retail Association website.