Hoover business happenings: February 2026

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Businesses

NOW OPEN

Le Esthetique, a new spa that opened Dec. 14 at 5876 Elsie Road in the Knox Square shopping center across from Hoover Metropolitan Stadium, held a grand opening and ribbon cutting on Jan. 16. Services include eyebrows, lashes, facials and other skin care, head spa treatments and more. Le Esthetique — Knox Square on Facebook, 205-821-1182

Hydralive Therapy has opened at 5220 Peridot Place in the Stadium Trace Village development and held a ribbon cutting on Dec. 19. The business offers vitamin infusions through IVs, infusions of a coenzyme called nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide, intramuscular injections, cryotherapy, compression therapy, weight loss therapy and hormone replacement therapy. hydralivetherapy.com, 205-407-4533

Nop Sac-Uang has opened Senlek Thai Rice & Noodles, a new Thai street food restaurant, in The Plaza at Riverchase shopping center at 1843 Montgomery Highway, Suite 107, the former location of Shono’s Hibachi and Sushi. This is Sac-Uang’s first restaurant to operate himself. He previously worked as a server at the Saigon Noodle House on U.S. 280 for three years and the Ginza Sushi & Korean BBQ on Valleydale Road for five years. Senlek Thai specializes in seafood and noodle soups. Sac-Uang makes a lot of the sauces, broths and salad dressings himself. Senlek Thai Rice & Noodles on Facebook, 205-937-8099

Elon Elezra has opened Near Me Smoothies & Ice Cream at 5882 Elsie Road in the Knox Square development across from Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. The shop offers smoothies and ice cream with 18 options of healthy frozen fruits and more than 20 mix-in ingredients. Other offerings include specialty chocolates and fruit fizz drinks. fruitnearme.com, 205-378-7731

COMING SOON

MicroFlex, a provider of flexible workspace solutions, plans to open its newest location in February at 3890 Douglas Way, off Old Columbiana Road behind Vulcan Tire & Automotive. The new facility will offer 30 flexible workspaces totaling 37,500 square feet and ranging in size from 1,250 to 1,550 square feet each. Multiple units can be combined to accommodate larger users. The facility is designed to meet an unmet demand for smaller, multifunctional office-warehouse spaces with shorter, more flexible lease terms than usually available, cofounder Andy Sink said. Microflex spaces can be used for everything from offices for creatives to contractor spaces, light assembly and warehouse spaces, fulfillment hubs for e-commerce businesses, showrooms and sports training. They can also be used to store car collections or recreational vehicles or as other hobby spaces. The spaces have high ceilings, grade-level roll-up doors, restrooms and parking. They are fully air conditioned and can be customized with additional improvements, such as small enclosed offices and mezzanine spaces. This will be Microflex’s fourth location in Alabama, with others already open in Auburn/Opelika and Irondale and another set to open in Huntsville in February. microflexspace.com, 205-443-2348

NEWS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

The Hoover Health Care Authority has selected Solara Surgical Partners as the operator for the outpatient surgery center in the Riverwalk Village development in Riverchase and has been granted final approval for the facility from the state. Solara Surgical Partners is a private company that manages multiple surgery centers in Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, Oklahoma and Texas, including the Alabama Digestive Health and Endoscopy Center at Baptist Health Brookwood Hospital and the Medplex Outpatient Surgery Center in the Southlake area of Hoover. By spring, the Riverwalk Health and Wellness Center should be under construction inside the former Regions Bank South Tower along Riverchase Parkway, Health Care Authority Chairman Alan Paquette said. It could take up to 18 months to finish construction, he said. solarasurgical.com

AmFirst, which has credit union locations at 3312 Old Columbiana Road and #2 Inverness Center Parkway, has two people nominated to serve on the board of directors for the next three years. Ross Mitchell, the current chairman of the board, is up for reappointment. Mitchell is the senior director of government affairs and public policy for Baptist Health. He served on AmFirst’s board from 2015 to 2021 and has served again since 2023. Mitchell previously served with Tenet Healthcare as vice president of external and governmental affairs for Brookwood Baptist Health in Alabama and as director of governmental relations in Tennessee. Prior to joining Brookwood Baptist in 2004, he led UAB’s marketing group and worked for several local advertising and public relations agencies after spending five years in Chicago at the Illinois Institute of Technology. Also, Diana Knight has been nominated to fill a board seat currently occupied by Katie Voss, whose term is expiring after two consecutive three-year terms. Knight is a founding and managing member of Sovereign CPA Group in Hoover. Prior to the founding of Sovereign, she was a partner at a Birmingham public accounting firm, which she joined in 1986 after four years with the examination division of the Internal Revenue Service. She is currently chairwoman of AmFirst’s supervisory committee and has served on the committee since 2023. In addition, she previously served as an associate member of the board of directors. Credit union members will vote on appointments to the board of directors at AmFirst’s annual meeting on April 21.

AmFirst was also named the 2025 Wells Fargo Outstanding Corporate Citizen by the Alabama chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. The credit union was nominated by United Way of Central Alabama. In 2025, AmFirst and its employees contributed nearly $388,000 to United Way agencies across five Alabama regions, supporting services in central Alabama, Cullman County, north Talladega County, east central Alabama and southwest Alabama. Beyond financial contributions, AmFirst employees dedicated more than 1,800 volunteer hours to local nonprofits, participated in more than 1,000 community events and led several initiatives in 2025, including collecting more than 1,500 books for children, providing more than 55,000 meals to people in need, donating $1,000 to combat food insecurity in Mobile, awarding six $5,000 scholarships for students and raising $40,000 for each of four nonprofits (The WellHouse, Garrett’s Place, United Way Priority Veteran and Better Basics). amfirst.org, 205-823-3985 or 205-995-0001

The foundation for Southern Energy Credit Union, which has locations in Hoover at 4725 Chace Circle and 6400 Tattersall Park Drive, recently delivered $15,000 donations to six charitable organizations for a total of $90,000 in donations. The recipient organizations included the Children’s Policy Council of Shelby County, Christ Health Center, Family Connection, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Birmingham, United Ability and Ronald McDonald House of Atlanta. Organizations interested in applying for consideration for future giving can find more information and apply online at southernenergycu.org/our-foundation. southernenergycu.org, 205-823-7403 or 205-547-9400

LCS, the management company for the Galleria Woods senior living community at 3850 Galleria Woods Drive, has been recognized for the seventh consecutive year by J.D. Power as No. 1 in resident satisfaction among independent senior living communities, according to J.D. Power’s 2025 senior living satisfaction study. LCS was recognized for excellence in independent living with No. 1 rankings in all six factors of resident satisfaction: dining, community building/grounds, resident apartment/living units, price paid for services received, community staff and resident activities. galleriawoodsseniorliving.com, 205-277-6915

PERSONNEL

Dr. Jonathon Whitehead has joined Southlake Orthopaedics at 4517 Southlake Parkway. Whitehead is a fellowship-trained orthopaedic surgeon who specializes in hand and upper extremity, including the shoulder, elbow and wrist. A native of Hoover and a graduate of Hoover High School, he attended Auburn University and graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences. He earned his medical degree from the University of South Alabama College of Medicine, where he was inducted into the Arnold P. Gold Humanism in Medicine Honor Society. Following medical school, Whitehead completed his residency training in orthopaedic surgery at the Medical College of Georgia. Following residency, he received additional specialized training by completing a hand and upper extremity fellowship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. southlakeorthopaedics.com, 205-518-8948

ANNIVERSARIES

The Whole Scoop ice cream shop will celebrate its 15th anniversary in February. The shop opened in Hoover in February 2011 at 3421 South Shades Crest Road, across from the Hoover YMCA. In 2019, owner David Cohen moved it to the current location at 1021 Brock’s Gap Parkway in The Village at Brock’s Gap. The Whole Scoop serves hand-dipped ice cream from 44 tubs, as well as shakes, banana splits, sundaes and ice cream cakes. Kids’ cups start at $3. Current hours are noon to 9 p.m. Monday-Thursday, noon to 10 p.m. Friday-Saturday and 1-9 p.m. Sunday. Summer hours will begin in May. thewholescoopicecream.com, 205-444-8000