By Ingrid Schnader
The Alabama Retail Association recently recognized Leaf & Petal with the Gold Alabama Retailer of the Year Award in the $5 million to $20 million annual sales category.
This is the second time Leaf & Petal – a garden shop with four locations, in Vestavia Hills, Mountain Brook and Birmingham – has won an Alabama Retailer of the Year award. In 2013, the Mountain Brook location was a Bronze Award winner in the smallest sales category.
“I just feel like Leaf and Petal has been a miracle,” said Leaf & Petal proprietor Jamie Pursell. “I don’t even know how it works, it’s just grown into something that’s so much bigger than me.”
The stores have a total of about 50 employees, and Pursell said the award is a tribute to them.
Four other area retailers also took home awards during a ceremony Oct. 22 at Vestavia Country Club.
Wesley Lassen of The Cook Store in Mountain Brook won the Silver
Award in the annual sales less than $1 million category.
“Behind every successful woman is a tribe of amazing people who have her back,” she said as she accepted the award.
Dr. Jenny Sobera, founder, owner and president of Village Dermatology in Mountain Brook, won the Bronze Award in the annual sales $1 million to $5 million category.
“People ask me sometimes how I do what I do with a business and a family,” she said. “And I always say it’s the people. It’s the people that have supported me
throughout my life. It’s the people that I’m around every day.”
Jim Moeller, owner of two local New York Butcher Shoppe locations, won the Silver Award in the annual sales $1 million to $5 million category.
“I would like to thank the Alabama Retail Association for this wonderful honor and for the efforts you do to help create a tremendous business climate in the state of Alabama,” he said.
David Dawoud, president and owner of two Vestavia Hills Domino’s Pizza locations, won the silver award in the annual sales $5 million to
$20 million category. He said he began delivering pizzas in college and now owns nine Domino’s Pizza restaurants with a total of 226 employees.
He is the largest employer among the day’s honorees.
“It’s an honor and a privilege to be nominated for this award,” he said.
