By Solomon Crenshaw Jr.
Shop owners in Mountain Brook Village planned to turn lemons into lemonade with a Blocked Off Block Party.
Jefferson County sewer work on Montevallo Road and Petticoat Lane made traveling those streets impossible. Nearly impossible was the task of doing business when patrons had a much harder time reaching stores.
“We pretty much said, ‘Let’s do something that can uplift the people in the area,’” said Brittney Clark, brand manager of Ishi? Women’s Boutique. “There are a lot of people who are sad about their sales dropping. We all thought about, ‘Let’s do something together that brings out the community because the community, they love events.’”
Merchants rallied to plan an event that would breathe renewed life into the historic shopping spot. Their plan was to take advantage of the blocked road and basically have a party in the street.
But the blocked streets were unblocked earlier in the day.
“That’s so ironic,” said Jon Sparks, who had 2½-year-old daughter Ruby in his arms. “It’s funny. They were hoping it’d be like more of a block party, but it’s great because of traffic. I know everybody’s happy for this, that there’s through traffic and foot traffic. And there’s great support through the city supporting it. It’s a great turnout.”
The event went from being a block party to a series of house parties. Nearly every shop had hors d’oeuvres for their returning customers.
Sparks invited his buddy Brian “Bronco” Redahan to set the atmosphere as he sang and played his guitar. Sparks’ wife, Meredith, owns Eleven Eleven Clothiers.
“We’re just so pleased that (the streets are) open,” she said. “It’s just more of a celebration to have the road back.”
Shoppers Back to Favored Stores
Scarlett Simmons said Mountain Brook Village is her favorite stretch of shops in Mountain Brook. She said the blocked roads made shopping difficult.
“I tried to come in here and was stopped by the police. They made me go around another way,” Simmons said. “It really did affect coming over here because I come through this route like maybe 10 times a day.
“But if you really know these shops and you really love these shops, I guess you would try to park farther away, but you have to have a lot of time to do that.”
Jennifer Chandler Stevenson strolled down Petticoat Lane with her friend Anne Heppenstall.
“To be part of this Blocked Off Block Party tonight is the best thing I can think of because these folks are so wonderful,” Stevenson said. “The businesses down here are great. My friend Anne and I wanted to come down tonight and support them. This is an absolutely great idea. There’s no other place like Mountain Brook.”
Marianne Gilchrist told the owner of Melanie Pounds Interior Design that her 7-year-old daughter, Annie, loves going there.
“We love the village,” the mother said.
“We’ve had Canterbury and Petticoat closed since the summer,” Pounds said. “To have traffic, cars and people coming through and life back in our villages has been wonderful.”
Paige Albright of Paige Albright Orientals said she’s missed her customers but admitted she missed the sales those customers brought with them, too.
“It’s always fun to see our clients and have them enjoy our things and shop,” she said. “It goes hand in hand.”
