By Emily Williams-Robertshaw
Homewood’s Alabama Goods, Emily’s Heirloom Pound Cakes and Ritch’s Pharmacy in Mountain Brook are among the 11 retail businesses recognized with Alabama Retail Association’s 2021 Alabama Retailers of the Year awards.
Ten winners are selected each year by a panel of judges representing retail developers, chambers of commerce and former award winners, according to a statement. In addition, the public chooses the Customers’ Choice Award Retailer of the Year through an online contest.
The ARA has been presenting the awards since 1999, although last year’s awards were canceled because of the pandemic.
ARA officials have been traveling to each of the award-winning retail locations this month to present the awards. Alabama Goods and Emily’s Heirloom Pound Cakes have been presented awards, and an award presentation for Ritch’s Pharmacy will be held Sept. 27. (Look for story about Ritch’s Pharmacy in the Oct. 7 issue of Over the Mountain Journal.)
Made in Alabama
Alabama Goods was born online in 2007 when owners Sherry Hartley and Beth Staula began selling Alabama-crafted items as corporate gifts.
While online and corporate sales continue, the business partners have since opened brick-and-mortar locations in Homewood and Huntsville. A third location in Hoover is slated to open in 2022.
“We are proud to carry products made in Alabama and are pleased that by selling these products, Alabama Goods has a positive impact on our state,” a written statement by Hartley and Staula stated.
Alabama Goods sells pottery, jewelry, bath and body products, towels, leather goods, glassware, T-shirts, hats, books, gourmet food and other items individually and packaged in gift baskets.
On Sept. 8, officials representing the ARA and the Homewood Chamber of Commerce gathered at Alabama Goods Homewood location to present the owners with the Alabama’s Gold Retailers of the Year award in the Annual Sales $1 Million to $5 Million category.
“We share this honor with others who had a major part in us being selected – our incredible staff who give our customers a top-notch experience, our Alabama vendors who create the amazing products we sell; and our customers who appreciate unique products and believe in buying local,” the written statement said.
In addition to Alabama Goods’ “strong mission for supporting our state and its artisans,” the Retailer of the Year judges lauded Alabama Goods for its success during the pandemic. Not only did the store increase its revenue, Hartley, Staula and their team opened a Huntsville location in July 2020 as well as revamping the Alabama Goods website and the point-of-sale system.
In a letter of support for the business, Alabama Goods vendor Owens Cross Roads artist Lora McGowan said, “Alabama Goods takes emerging artists out of the ‘starving artist category’ to the ‘here I am, support me category.’” McGowan is also a part-time employee at the Huntsville location.
Hartley and Staula were nominated for the award by Meredith Drennen, executive director of the Homewood Chamber of Commerce.
“The team at Alabama Goods not only showcase the makers in our state but gives back to the community significantly,” Drennan said.
Hartley takes a lead role in the chamber’s Downtown Business Group, “planning events and cultivating ideas to make Homewood a great place to shop, eat and live,” Drennan added.
Officials also celebrated efforts Alabama Goods made to support the community early on during the pandemic.
“Before face masks were readily available, we asked our textile vendors to sew masks,” the owners stated in their Retailer of the Year entry. “That gave us and our vendors a major boost in revenue.
“We worked with a candle maker, as well as a distillery, to create and sell hand sanitizer during a period when sanitizer was challenging to find.”
Turning Cakes Into Sweet Business
For April McClung, owner of Emily’s Heirloom Pound Cakes in Homewood, being presented with the 2021 Gold Alabama Retailer of the Year in the Annual Sales Less Than $1 Million category was acknowledgement of her hard work.
“As a first-generation business owner – building a business from the ground up is one of the hardest pursuits I’ve ever experienced,” said McClung. “The faith walk, mistakes, sweat and tears continue to transform me.
“Receiving this award means others acknowledge and appreciate all the hard work that goes into what we do,” she added. “It says to me, ‘Keep going!’”
Established in 2014, Emily’s Heirloom Pound Cakes offers a variety of flavors and sizes of pound cakes plus gourmet coffee from its local bakery as well as through its website, Amazon, Sam’s Club Road Shows and vendor events.
When the pandemic hit, McClung and her team adapted.
One of the Retailer of the Year judges noted, “By finding new channels, Emily’s Heirloom Pound Cakes increased sales 70% in 2020. They went very grassroots at farmers markets and even neighborhood-to-neighborhood. They basically went door-to-door, and they went big with QVC and Amazon Prime Day.”
To maintain sales, the business set up tents in neighborhoods, attended farmers’ markets and partnered with a local coffee company.
“We better organized our online store, added necessary and useful information and enhanced our descriptions of each product,” McClung said. A consultant also helped make system improvements, including organizing labeling and batch coding and increasing a kiosk opportunity from weekends to seven days a week without increasing labor costs.
“For the first time in my business, I started getting a salary,” McClung said.
According to McClung, a dramatic increase in sales online occurred in 2020, “primarily due to the Aug. 19, 2020, Small Business Spotlight on QVC and HSN, which focused on Black-owned businesses.
“We now participate in a mentorship program sponsored by QVC,” she said.
When the pandemic halted Emily’s Heirloom Pound Cakes’ ability to offer samples at Sam’s Club locations, McClung adapted once more.
“We pivoted and learned how to conduct an unmanned Road Show, which allowed us to scale while reducing labor costs,” she said.
The business was nominated for the award by the Birmingham Business Alliance, an organization that has worked closely with the retailer for several years.
“Emily’s Heirloom Pound Cakes is an Alabama success story,” said Victor M. Brown, partner with the Birmingham Business Alliance. “They are distributing a quality product that is in demand to markets across the nation, and the company is creating jobs in Alabama.”
Leigh Sloss-Corra, executive director of The Market at Pepper Place in Birmingham, where McClung is a vendor, also recommended her for the award.
“April has risen above the rest, impressing me as she has so many others with her ability to tell a story, work hard and bake a consistently outstanding product,” Sloss-Corra said.
