Sewing Machine Mart relocates after nearly 30 years in Homewood

Since 1993, Sewing Machine Mart has provided expertise on sewing machines and repaired them for Homewood residents and even customers outside the state from the store in Valley Mall.

With the selling of the Valley Mall property and forthcoming redevelopment, owners Shawn and Heidi Jackson are moving the business to Springville, where they live.

“The Lord shuts one door; he’ll open another,” Shawn Jackson said.

For almost 28 years, the Jacksons have continued the legacy of the store, which first opened in Tarrant in 1950.

Jackson retired from the Birmingham Fire Department, but while he was still with the department, the store’s owner was also with the department and was the store’s third-generation owner.

In 1994, he asked Jackson to step in and help him at the shop.

“I’d never seen a sewing machine,” Jackson said.

Heidi was pregnant with their second daughter at that time, so as they prepared for another child, Jackson trained in all things sewing machine, he said.

In 2002, Jackson bought the store. Over time, the store added a classroom and a warehouse, providing more room for merchandise and for machine repairs.

“It’s always been a good spot,” Jackson said. “Homewood’s always been great.”

While the store has never been in the spotlight the same way 18th Street businesses are, Jackson said it has a loyal following and will have people drive even from out of state to have their machine serviced or to pick up items.

“We pull service work in all over the Southeast,” Jackson said. “We’re one of a few [service stores] still around.”

The rise of online shopping has had an impact on the store more than the COVID-19 pandemic, Jackson said. The store experienced its best year ever in 2020 due to people sewing masks and taking up the hobby during the pandemic.

However, with the internet coming onboard a few decades ago and the rise of giants like Amazon, it becomes impossible to keep up, Jackson said.

“People have become, ‘I want it now,’ and don’t understand some things take time,” Jackson said. “There’s nowhere you go to learn this.”

Machines have also changed over the years, making use of technology like everything else, Jackson said.

Homewood has definitely changed in 30 years and has seen major growth and more families moving in, Jackson said. There is more of a community feel now, he said.

The city is “obviously growing,” he said, though he said he worries about how much more growth the city can handle given its size.

The new space for Sewing Machine Mart in Springville will include 3,200 square feet but will be just one space as opposed to the three spaces it occupies at Valley Mall. There is more floor space and double the width of the current space, Jackson said.

The plan is to move right before Christmas and open Jan. 5 at 300 Springville Station, Suite 800, Jackson said.

“It’s going to be a lot better for us,” he said. “There’s only so much we can do here.”

Customers can keep up with all of the store’s news on the Facebook page: facebook.com/sewingmachinemart.