Hoover business happenings: April 2026

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Businesses

NOW OPEN

Rami Kafeena, a 2023 graduate of Spain Park High School, has opened the first physical location of his automotive detailing business called Baba Details in Unit 1104 of the Microflex facility at 3890 Douglas Way, behind Vulcan Tire and Automotive. Kafeena has had the business for several years but in the past has operated it strictly as a mobile service. He now also has a 1,250-square-foot space where customers can come to him. Baba Details does a variety of car detailing services, including interior and exterior cleaning, paint corrections, ceramic coating, mold removal and touch-up painting. A full detail job (interior and exterior) costs about $250 on average, he said. babadetails.com, 205-901-2490

Access Luxury, an automotive restyling company, has opened a location in Unit 3101 of the Microflex facility at 3890 Douglas Way, behind Vulcan Tire and Automotive. The business provides window tinting, vehicle wrapping, detailing, paint corrections and ceramic coating services. accessluxurydetailing.com, 205-778-7558

A dual-brand hotel that includes a 102-room Hilton Garden Inn and 99-room Homewood Suites has opened in the Stadium Trace Village development at 540 Emery Drive W. The two hotels have a combined lobby and an outdoor entertainment patio with grills, cornhole boards, ping-pong tables and foosball tables. There also is event meeting space and an on-site restaurant and bar. Homewood Suites has extended-stay amenities that include a fully equipped kitchen and dishwasher. hilton.com, 205-502-4000

Einstein Bros. Bagels has opened a new restaurant along the U.S. 280 corridor in a 2,052-square-foot space at 450 Cahaba Park Circle within the 280 Station development. The restaurant bakes more than 20 flavors of bagels daily and features a lineup of signature egg sandwiches. einsteinbros.com, 205-547-3947

Flipsies Furniture held a ribbon cutting for a new store at 1409 Montgomery Highway in the Riverchase Promenade shopping center on March 4. flipsiesfurniture.com, 205-238-5076

Alsies of Birmingham is a new Ross Bridge-based tech-enabled ice cream truck designed to bring people together through fun, nostalgic treats. The business is now open to be booked for neighborhood visits, birthday parties and community events. alsies.com/Birmingham, 205-210-8844

Stretch Zone, a national wellness franchise focused on practitioner-assisted stretching and mobility, in February opened its third Birmingham-area location at 701 Doug Baker Blvd., Suite 107-B, along U.S. 280 near Greystone. Founded in Florida in 2004, Stretch Zone has more than 400 locations in 41 states. The new studio is in The Village at Lee Branch and marks the 11th overall in Alabama. stretchzone.com, 205-509-2349

Baskin-Robbins, the national ice cream brand known for its rotating lineup of 31 flavors, has opened a new location at 940 Inverness Corners at the intersection of U.S. 280 and Valleydale Road. Founded in 1945, Baskin-Robbins offers ice cream, sundaes, drinks and custom cakes through locally owned and operated shops across the country. The new store is located between Mellow Mushroom and Kyuramen Tbaar in the Inverness Corners shopping center, which is also home to Kohl’s and Sephora. baskinrobbins.com, 205-407-4448

Oak and Ale, a new neighborhood pub, has opened in the Lake Crest shopping center at 2341 John Hawkins Parkway. The pub features artisanal charcuterie boards, skewers and handheld food made to pair with drinks. Behind the bar, there are local craft beers, classic cocktails and curated wines. The pub plans to have live music and trivia nights. 205-223-8704

The Recharge Birmingham health and wellness studio that in February opened at 3150 Bowling Drive has rebranded as the BodyRX Wellness Studio and held a grand opening on March 7. The studio combines non-invasive therapies with data-driven wellness tools to help people rest, recover and rejuvenate. The studio in particular helps with skin issues, body shaping, weight management and muscle recovery from inflammation and soreness. Services include facials, light therapy, sauna wraps, skin tightening, hair growth, massages, soak baths, hydrogen inhalation, pain blocking, hyperbaric oxygen therapy, cold plunges, lymphatic drainage, vibroacoustic therapy, interferential therapy and contrast therapy. Hours are 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday. bodyrxwellness.com, 205-577-7303

COMING SOON

First Financial Bank is renovating and moving into the former BBVA Compass building at 1560 Montgomery Highway. ffbalabama.com

Einstein Bros. Bagels plans to open a new location in Hoover at 1543 Montgomery Highway. It will take up one of three spots in a building that formerly was a pawn shop. einsteinbros.com

NEWS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, headquartered at 450 Riverchase Parkway E., has been recognized on the Forbes list of America’s Best Employers for 2026. This award is presented in collaboration with Statista, the world-leading statistics portal and industry ranking provider. Forbes and Statista selected America’s Best Employers for 2026 through an independent survey from a vast sample of more than 217,000 U.S. employees working for companies employing at least 1,000 people within the United States. More than 3.5 million employer evaluations were considered. The final score is based on two types of evaluations: personal (those given by employees themselves) and public (those given by friends and family members of employees or members of the public who work in the same industry), with a much higher weighting for personal evaluations. bcbsal.org, 1-800-292-8868

AmFirst, which has credit union locations in Hoover at 3312 Old Columbiana Road and #2 Inverness Center Parkway, recently announced grant recipients for its 2026 Community First campaign. In 2025, AmFirst employees and members raised $160,000, which will be split equally among the Covenant Rescue Group (which fights human trafficking), Forge Breast Cancer Survivor Center, Jones Valley Teaching Farm and Libby’s Friends (which assists families with special needs children). amfirst.org, 205-823-3985, 205-995-0001

The Hoover Women’s Business and Leadership Council, a part of the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce, celebrated its one-year anniversary in March. hooverchamber.org, 205-988-5672

PERSONNEL MOVES

Dana Nolan, the head of investor relations for Regions Financial Corp., in March announced she has decided to retire in April following a 37-year career with the company. Following Nolan’s retirement, Regions Bank veteran Tom Speir will serve as head of investor relations. Nolan has led investor relations for Regions since 2016. She previously served as associate director of investor relations beginning in 2010 following leadership roles in the company’s treasury division. Her investor relations experience spans a period marked by significant change in the banking industry. Speir brings more than two decades of financial experience to the position. He currently leads the company’s strategy and corporate development group, responsibilities he will retain in his new role. After joining Regions in 2009, he served in various leadership roles in corporate treasury, including assistant treasurer and head of balance sheet management. He was appointed to lead the strategy and corporate development team in 2022. Prior to joining Regions, he served in Wachovia Bank’s treasury organization as securitized products portfolio manager. Speir holds a bachelor’s degree in business management with a finance concentration from North Carolina State University. As head of investor relations, Speir will oversee all institutional, retail and fixed-income investor relations activities, including investor strategy and outreach, competitive and strategic analysis and credit rating agency relationship management. Additionally, as part of Anil Chadha’s transition to Regions’ chief financial officer, Karin Allen has been promoted as chief accounting officer and James Eastman has been named controller. Allen and Eastman, along with Speir, will report to Chadha.

Megan Scarano, a weekend anchor for the ABC 33/40 television station, based at 800 Concourse Parkway in Riverchase, had her last day on the air with the station on March 4. Scarano was with ABC 33/40 for three years. Before that, she spent two years and five months with WCTI in New Bern, North Carolina, according to her LinkedIn page. She said in a Facebook post she plans to continue in journalism but did not disclose particular plans. abc3340.com, 205-403-3340

Danny Rowe has joined the RealtySouth Over the Mountain office at 2409 Acton Road, Suite 137, as a Realtor. dannyrowe.realtysouth.com, 205-276-1749

ANNIVERSARIES

The Riverchase Country Club this year is celebrating its 50th anniversary. Over the decades, the club has hosted notable people that included President Gerald Ford, Michael Jordan and Bob Hope. The club has a 6,842-yard Joe Lee-designed 18-hole golf course with bermuda fairways; 12 Rubico clay tennis courts; two hard-surface tennis courts; six pickleball courts; a pool; a full-service fitness center with cardio; weights and fitness instruction; a full-service banquet hall; and multiple dining venues and social areas for members and guests to gather. riverchasecc.com, 205-988-4140

The Riverchase Galleria recently celebrated the 40th anniversary of the opening of the mall. Speakers included current Galleria Senior General Manager Tommy Richardson, Hoover Mayor Nick Derzis, Alan Paquette of Jim Wilson & Associates and Jim Spahn, who served as marketing director of the Galleria for 17 years until 2004. The mall currently has more than 100 tenants, and Derzis and the city of Hoover are working with mall owners to come up with a plan for redevelopment and revitalization. riverchasegalleria.com, 205-985-3019

The Front Porch restaurant at 2301 Grand Ave., Suite 109, in Ross Bridge celebrated its 10th anniversary on March 8. The restaurant was started by two longtime Ross Bridge residents Jeremy Hackney and John Giffin. frontporchrossbridge.com, 205-436-2072

T. Fox SalonSpa Aveda, a salon owned and operated by Traci Fox, celebrated its 17th anniversary with an open house on March 17. tfoxsalon.com, 205-403-8369

CLOSINGS

The White House Interiors store at 3230 Galleria Circle is closing, but the company’s location at 5209 U.S. 280 in Brook Highland Plaza will remain open. The expected closing date was late March or sometime in April, a store employee said. twhinteriors.com, 205-518-0798