By Anne Ruisi
After 18 years on the crescent at the corner of Cahaba Road and Montevallo Road in Mountain Brook, near Bromberg’s, Ousler Sandwiches is moving.
It won’t be far, only a few blocks north to the Lane Parke commercial development, said LeAnn Wood, who runs the popular shop with her family. The family has owned the shop for three generations.
“We’re really excited to make the move,” Wood said.
Ousler’s is among the new or relocated eateries for Lane Parke, although Ousler’s does not have seating for in-house dining. Melt, sometimes called “the grilled cheese restaurant,” moved to Lane Parke in January from its Avondale location. Lane Parke representatives have announced that an as-yet-unnamed upscale steakhouse will be coming soon.
The timing is right for Ousler’s to move as their lease expires in April, but their landlord told them they can take extra time if they need it. They haven’t set a date to close to make the move. They expect to be in their new shop by June 1 but hope it will happen sooner, Wood said.
108 Years of Yummy
To say Ousler’s is a popular fixture in the community is an understatement. For 108 years, the shop has provided sandwiches for parties, weddings, christenings and other special occasions.
“We had a lady come in several years ago who said, ‘I had your sandwiches at my wedding, and I want them at my 50th anniversary,’” Wood recalled.
Ousler’s had its beginnings in 1915, when Dana Ousler started the business on 22nd Street in Birmingham, Wood said. Her grandmother, Christine Elmore, who was to become the pivotal figure in the business, started working at 15 to help support her family during the Great Depression.
Ousler’s had an extensive operation in its early years that included running food trucks and supplying smaller shops and stores. Dana Ousler even considered opening a franchise in Miami.
During World War II, Ousler’s had a large contract with the army to provide box lunches to every soldier who stepped off the train at the old Birmingham Terminal Station. The military contract was so huge that the restaurant had to stop supplying the smaller stores, Wood said.
Meanwhile, Christine Elmore had married and was taking care of her family. A family tragedy sent her back to work when her husband was killed in a 1947 mine explosion. Her son, Bill Elmore – who would become Wood’s father – was 18 months old at the time. Christine Elmore also had a daughter to support and went back to work at Ousler’s.
Ousler retired in 1952 and a year later, Elmore bought the business after Ousler’s daughter declined to take it over. Trying to obtain financing to buy the business was daunting because at that time, women weren’t considered a good investment risk and couldn’t get loans from a bank.
That changed when a woman her grandmother knew who worked at Exchange Security Bank, a forerunner of today’s Regions Bank, persuaded someone in the loan department to lend Elmore the money, Wood said. With that seed money, she bought the sandwich shop and most of the Ousler catering food trucks that were popular then.
“One was called The Dinner Bell and had a ringer that sounded like the bell on a fire truck,” Wood said. “They had to stop ringing it because of complaints.”
Christine Elmore steered the business until she was 89 years old, retiring in 2004. She was still popping in to work at the time she died two years later.
“She was a firecracker’ but well-loved among customers, her granddaughter recalled. Christine Elmore worked from an electric wheelchair in her later years.
Ousler’s was a fixture on 22nd Street until 1971, when it moved to 42nd Steet in Avondale, Wood said. The shop moved to Mountain Brook in 2005 when the family decided they wanted a smaller building than the one in Avondale.
They chose to move to Mountain Brook by eyeballing the ZIP codes on checks customers wrote for their sandwiches.
“We saw all the checks had ZIP codes 35213 or 35223,” Wood said, indicating customers lived in the Mountain Brook area, so it was a natural fit.
Food fads come and go but classic Southern favorites have helped fuel Ousler’s steady success. Chicken salad is their most popular sandwich, which isn’t surprising as Ousler’s makes 10 tons of it a year. Pimento cheese comes in second.
“I love seeing the children who come in here and take our sandwiches to college,” said Rebecca Elmore, Wood’s mother.
In fact, besides spring wedding and graduation season, August is their biggest month for sales as moms pack a pile of Ousler’s sandwiches to accompany their children when they set off for college, Wood said. The sandwiches freeze well.
It Takes a Whole Family
With the move to Lane Parke coming up, the family members will continue to work at Ousler’s, but Wood hopes her parents will “dial it a bit back.”
“I don’t want it to be too much for them,” she said.
Everyone in the family pitches in one or way another, including Wood’s brother, Brian Elmore, who works at McWane Science Center’s IMAX theater, and sister, Jennifer Elmore, who works at Lakeside Baptist Church. Wood’s husband, Chris Wood, who is a Realtor, found the shop’s present location and is working on renovating the Lane Parke site.
The couple’s sons, Camren, 23, a firefighter in Fultondale, and Turner, 19, who is attending the University of Alabama at Birmingham, also help out.
Ousler’s will continue to sell its beloved sandwiches and box lunches, which include a sandwich, chips, a deviled egg and brownie sold at a modest price.
“My grandmother said if you make a great product and sell it at a great price, you’ll be in business forever,” said Wood, who is a former teacher. “We are sensitive to price. When we have to go up, we apologize.”
