Hoover Business Happenings - March 2022
Now Open
Beauty and Beyond has relocated from 1615 Montgomery Highway in the Hoover Commons shopping center to a spot just down the street at 1642 Montgomery Highway in the Hoover Square shopping center. The new store opened in the outparcel building in Hoover Square, next to Benton Nissan. 205-834-8503
Neil Patel planned to open his new Saw’s BBQ franchise at 3780 Riverchase Village in a 3,400-square-foot spot formerly home to IronStone Pizza and right next to Chicken Salad Chick by the end of February. The restaurant has about 115 seats, including patio seating outside, and includes a full bar, Patel said. This is Saw’s BBQ’s third franchise location and sixth overall. 205-315-4637
The Illumination Health department of Bendcare in January opened an office on the seventh floor of The Offices at 3000 Riverchase. The department offers retrospective and prospective research capabilities to rheumatologists and other professionals in that industry. 844-337-2363
The nonprofit Foundation for Science, Technology, Education and Research (FASTER) has leased space on the seventh floor of The Offices at 3000 Riverchase. The foundation uses real-world data to optimize patient care and advance medical research. The core clinical subject matter expertise of FASTER lies in rheumatologic, musculoskeletal and inflammatory conditions, which include rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, spondyloarthritis, juvenile idiopathic arthritis, systemic lupus erythematosus, osteoarthritis, gout and osteoporosis.
Hoover educator Natalie Coleman has opened a franchise of Engineering For Kids to help students boost their science, technology, engineering and math skills. The business offers STEM camps, classes, parties, events and online programs at various sites throughout the Birmingham-Hoover metro area. Coleman is a career technology specialist at the Riverchase Career Connection Center and also teaches at Jefferson State Community College. The Hoover franchise opened in November and has its first event — a spring break camp — scheduled for the week of March 28-April 1 at the Pelham Civic Center. 205-358-0656
Jack’s Family Restaurants reopened its restaurant at 3429 Lorna Road on Feb. 9 after a complete tear-down and rebuild project. 205-822-9870
Coming Soon
Great Clips is opening a new location at 4289 South Shades Crest Road, Suite 101, in the Morgan Road Plaza shopping center. 205-834-8807
Moss Rock Pharmacy plans to open at 610 Preserve Parkway, Suite 160, in The Preserve in between USS Real Estate and Vecchia Pizzeria & Mercato.
Planet Smoothie plans to open a new location inside the HF Elite Fitness and Training space at 2153 Clearbrook Road in between Bluff Park Village and Shades Mountain Plaza once the fitness space is fully renovated. The business should open this summer, franchise owner Jason Cerniglia said. 205-822-9009
Beaute Nail Spa plans to open a location at 4289 South Shades Crest Road, Suite 105, in the Morgan Road Plaza shopping center.
Benchmark Physical Therapy plans to open a new location at 4289 South Shades Crest Road, Suite 109, in the Morgan Road Plaza shopping center.
Goldfish Swim School Hoover plans to open at 5549 Grove Blvd. in The Grove shopping center, right next to the SuperTarget, in March. The school teaches children ages 4 months to 12 years old how to swim in an indoor pool heated to 90 degrees. In addition to swim lessons, Goldfish Swim School offers frequent family swims (for both members and non-members) and party packages. Facility highlights include an air-conditioned viewing gallery for parents to watch lessons, individual/private changing rooms, blow dry station, snack bar and retail shop. There are 146 other locations of the Goldfish Swim School in 35 other states and Washington, D.C., according to the company’s website. This is the first location in Alabama. 205-512-9941
Fyzical Therapy and Balance Center, a unique physical therapy center specializing in balance and wellness, plans to open in March at 3780 Riverchase Village, Suite 900, in the Best Buy shopping center. 205-613-1787
Relocations and Renovations
Apex Systems, a technology services business that incorporates industry insights and experience to deliver solutions that fulfill its clients’ digital visions, is relocating from One Perimeter Park South, Suite 140, in Birmingham to an office with about 3,000 square feet on the 11th floor of The Offices at 3000 Riverchase in Hoover. The new office was expected to open around the beginning of March, said Alan Paquette, vice president for property management for Jim Wilson and Associates and property manager for The Offices at 3000 Riverchase. Apex has a presence in more than 70 markets across North America, Europe and India. 205-623-1115
Hoover Fitness, 2153 Clearbrook Road, is downsizing its space between Bluff Park Village and Shades Mountain Plaza to make way for a Camp Bow-Wow dog day care, grooming and training facility in the same building. Hoover Fitness, which is rebranding as HF Elite Fitness and Training, will take up about 3,000 square feet in the building, and Camp Bow-Wow will occupy about 6,000 square feet, HF Elite Fitness and Training owner Jason Cerniglia said. The fitness business temporarily relocated across the street to the former Dale Serrano dance studio while it renovates its space and will move into the new space under the new name. The new space likely will be ready this summer, Cerniglia said. The new location will have new racks, benches, dumbbells, cardio equipment, plate-loaded equipment, pin-select weight stack equipment and group training equipment and new personalized workout programs. 205-822-9009
SecurIT360, a company that fights ransomware and provides other cybersecurity services, has relocated from 530 Beacon Parkway West, Suite 901, in Birmingham to The Offices at 3000 Riverchase in Hoover. The company has leased almost 9,000 square feet in the office tower next to the Riverchase Galleria, taking up nearly half of the seventh floor, said Alan Paquette, vice president for property management for Jim Wilson & Associates and manager of The Offices at 3000 Riverchase. The new office was expected to be open by Feb. 15. SecurIT360 has another office in Kansas City, Missouri, and employees in other states as well. 205-419-9066
New Ownership
Darrell and Tara Graf have taken over running antique shop On a Shoestring, 601 Shades Crest Road in Bluff Park.
News and Accomplishments
USI Insurance Services, a national company with an office in Liberty Park in Vestavia Hills, won a contract to assist the city of Hoover with finding a property and casualty insurance carrier. 205-969-5100
Vestavia Hills-based Jani-King won a contract to provide contract custodial services for Hoover City Schools on an as-needed basis. The company will be paid 18 cents per square foot of any building that receives its custodial services, and Hoover City Schools will pay $15 per hour for labor. The Hoover school system mostly hires its own custodians but recently contracted out services for Greystone Elementary due to difficulty finding reliable custodial employees, Superintendent Dee Fowler said. The school system wanted to be able to hire additional outside custodians as needed and had to take bids for the service due to the scope of the work, Fowler said. Four companies bid on the contract, and Jani-King submitted the lowest responsible bid. 205-969-0909
Regions, which has an operation center at 2090 Parkway Office Circle and at least seven branches in Hoover, recently announced it has launched a commercial business development team focused specifically on helping small businesses build customized plans for financial success. The new team complements Regions’ commercial banking solutions group and is led by banking veteran Jordan Baxter, a senior vice president in commercial banking. Baxter and the commercial business development team are focused on helping business owners and managers maximize growth potential and create greater efficiencies while meeting complex financial needs. This is accomplished by working hand in hand with product partners from across the bank who bring specialized experience in areas such as treasury management, equipment finance, Small Business Administration lending, franchise lending and more. 800-734-4667
Personnel Moves
Danberry at Inverness, 235 Inverness Center Drive, an all-inclusive rental senior living community, recently had three key promotions. Jaclyn Gardner has been named director of operations management by Life Care Services, an LCS company, which manages Danberry. Gardner served as executive director at Danberry for more than 12 years. In addition, Jeana Robinson has been promoted to executive director, while Cody Lytton has been promoted to associate executive director. Robinson has been with Danberry since 2011 when she joined the staff as director of health care services. Lytton has been part of the Danberry team since 2010 and is considered one of the most versatile and committed employees, serving in his seventh position in 11 years. 205-443-9500
Ohio-based Union Home Mortgage recently announced the hiring of Carl Douglas as a producing brand manager and Michelle Benefield Smith as a loan officer in Vestavia Hills, Mountain Brook, Homewood, Hoover and the Greater Birmingham area. Prior to joining UHM, Douglas served as a loan officer at First Bank Mortgage. Smith is also experienced in working with Federal Housing Administration, Veterans Affairs and Rural Development loans. 1-877-846-4968
Joseph McGee, the longtime president and CEO of Legacy Community Federal Credit Union, has retired after nearly 45 years in the financial services industry and nearly 31 years at Legacy. The board of directors named Chief Operating Officer Glenn Bryan as the new president and CEO, a change which became effective in January. McGee will remain in a consultative and advisory capacity as CEO emeritus through his planned retirement date in March 2022. McGee came to Legacy, then known as University Federal Credit Union, in 1991 as senior vice president of finance and was named president and CEO in 1999. He guided the credit union through a complete rebranding and charter change in 2006. During his tenure, the credit union grew from $70 million in assets to more than $600 million in assets. Bryan has worked in the financial services industry for nearly 40 years and has been with the credit union for 37 years. Prior to his appointment, he collaborated with the CEO, senior management and the board of directors on strategy and organizational leadership and was directly involved with strategic planning, product development, marketing strategy, digital delivery channels, industry partnerships and process improvement. Bryan earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration with a concentration in management from Samford University. Legacy Community Federal Credit Union has local locations at 1880 Chace Drive and 200 Corporate Ridge.
Dr. Alex McDonald has joined the staff at Grandview Medical Group’s location at 2949 John Hawkins Parkway. He treats patients ages 10 and older and is taking new patients. 205-987-0005
ARC Realty Hoover, 5220 Peridot Place, Suite 124, in the Stadium Trace Village shopping center, recently added six agents: Joyce Watson, Michelle Shunnarah, Mallory Scruggs, Whitney Phillips, Erin Mahaffey-Ragland and Lara Grace Nappi. 205-969-8912