By Cissy Jackson Photos by Jordan Wald
Mountain Book Flower Shop has been around for 77 years. Shop owner Monte Haynes gives us the history of this venerable institution.
OTMJ: Tell me about the shop’s origins.
Monty Haynes: An architect named D.O. Whilldin came to Birmingham from up north in the early 1900s. He designed hundreds of projects in Alabama, including Legion Field, Phillips High School, the Dr. Pepper Plant, the Sims-Florentine Building downtown and several houses in Redmont and Mountain Brook. In the 1940s, Mr. Whilldin bought a parcel of land on Montevallo Road and started building this little strip of shops where we are now. His descendants still own it.
Around that same time, Mr. Frank McKay retired from U.S. Steel, where he had been responsible for all the landscaping. It wasn’t long before he became bored with retirement. Mr. McKay’s neighbor in Colonial Hills was Adria Spielberger, the owner of the Lingerie Shoppe (which at that time was on Petticoat Lane). Mrs. Spielberger had plans to move the Lingerie Shoppe to Mr. Whilldin’s new building, and she convinced Mr. McKay to open a flower shop there. The building was finished in late 1948, and Mr. McKay opened the Mountain Brook Flower Shop in January 1949.
In 1957 or 1958, Birmingham native Maloy Love was studying at Auburn when he came down with the flu. He missed so many days of class that he had to sit out the rest of the semester. Once he got well, he didn’t have anything to do. One of Maloy’s mother’s friends got him a job at the flower shop, and BOOM, it fit. Even while Maloy served in the Army after graduating, Mr. McKay would fly him from Texas to Birmingham on weekends to help with parties and events. After he left the Army, Maloy came to work at the shop full time. When Mr. McKay died in 1962, Maloy bought the shop from Mr. McKay’s sister.
When did you come into the picture?
In 1974. My high school biology teacher worked part-time at the shop, and they needed help getting ready for Easter that year. He came into class one day, asked if I was available to help that weekend, and the rest is history. When Maloy developed Parkinson’s, I took partial ownership, and after Maloy died in 2021, I became the shop’s sole owner. Maloy didn’t want anybody else to take over, because I knew the customers, and the customers knew me—it would be a smooth transition.
This is not what I ever expected to do, but I think sometimes there’s a plan. I love this. It’s an honor to be a part of the most important moments in people’s lives. We are there for our customers from cradle to grave, but I think funerals are when people need us the most.
What are some changes the shop has seen over the years, and how have they affected your business?
Online floral services and special events businesses are putting a lot of flower shops out of business. We have been lucky, because we have a good location, and our customers are loyal. We have generational relationships with many customers. For example, last Sunday I did flowers for a christening. That baby is the fifth generation in that family I have served. My very first task in 1974 was to deliver flowers to one of our customers. And recently, I did the funeral for her son. I have a 97-year-old customer who sends 40 arrangements every Christmas. He comes in to go over the list with us every year. I have another customer who’s almost 90. She sends flowers to her 90-year-old cousin once a month. Another customer used to sit Maloy down and feed him whenever he delivered flowers to her house. Not to be outdone by his grandmother, on Christmas Eve, her grandson would go to Western and load a grocery cart with things from the delicatessen—breads, meat platters, cheeses, desserts—and bottles upon bottles of champagne. He’d push that cart over here, and the door would fly open. Here we were trying to get all these centerpieces on tables—it was Christmas Eve! But he’d say, “Stop what you’re doing, it’s time to eat!” He stood here and made sandwiches for us and poured the champagne. And if anybody came in while they were doing last-minute shopping, he’d pour them a glass and offer them something to eat. People began to remember this and show up. He did this for years. People’s preferences have changed. In the 1940s when the shop opened, carnations, chrysanthemums and baby’s breath were popular. Now, one of the first things out of people’s mouths is, “NO CARNATIONS!”
People like the French look in arrangements now. Instead of long-stemmed roses in a tall vase, customers like the roses cut short, so you’re looking right at the blossom. You can place those arrangements anywhere, too—the taller ones can be harder to find a spot for in somebody’s home.
What’s one thing people may not know about your business?
Sourcing flowers is almost like working in the stock market. Supply houses are locked onto their computers and tuned into the growers and the packing and shipping people so they can get things as soon as they’re available. If they wait too long, hoping for a better price, they don’t get the best quality or choices.
Our roses come from Ecuador year-round, in the fall we can get peonies from Chile and New Zealand, and our tulips come from Canada, Holland and even Alaska. But even with global sourcing, some flowers just aren’t available at certain times of the year.
Little Shop of Horrors—
Just look behind you! Years ago, our neighbor, jeweler Rex Harris, asked us to re-pot his Rex Begonia, which he called Little Nell. We don’t have a potting bench, so we took it to Chris at Oak Street. Chris gave Nell a new pot, but there were some cuttings left over. She put those in a saucer with some potting medium, we put it up there by the window, and before long, little Little Nell needed a new pot. I scrambled around and found a container that would sit down inside that big olive jar, and now you can’t even see the jar. We laugh about how fast it grows, and we just get out of the way. So that one is a little like Audrey II.
It doesn’t eat meat, does it?
Thankfully, no. But it’s a legacy, like I am, and like the shop is.
What do you like to do when you’re not working?
I like photography. I took some courses, and I have some nice cameras, but I don’t have as much time to go shutterbugging as I used to. I like landscapes and architecture. I have a whole collection of church steeples—they’re all different, and they’re all architectural marvels.
Do you have a favorite flower?
I like different flowers for different seasons. Right now, I’m obsessed with these late summer tuberoses that grow in people’s yards up on Sand Mountain. In May, the peonies are marvelous. And I love it when the weather gets cold, and the tulips start coming in.
Do you have a floral design philosophy?
As Maloy used to say, “It just needs to be in good taste.”
What’s your favorite occasion for flowers?
The holidays, because there’s so much color and happiness.
Why do you think Mountain Brook Flower Shop is still going strong after 77 years when most small businesses don’t last 10?
Our customers have kept the doors open, and I’m so grateful. We know our customers, and just as importantly, we know the names of the people who work in their houses. We know what kinds of flowers and vases and sizes of arrangements our customers like and the colors that look good in their homes. When something is ordered for them or they order it for themselves, it’s done the way they want it done. This whole thing revolves around service for our customers.
