Hoover Business Happenings September 2025

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NOW OPEN

Tiara Brumberg, an attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and executive functioning coach, has started a business called The Middle Coaching and Consulting. She works with children ages 10 and older as well as with adults. Typical areas of focus include helping people with organization, planning, time management, emotional regulation, goal-directed persistence, impulse control and metacognition. She helps children create systems for how to keep their room clean, organize school materials and study. Brumberg has a bachelor’s degree in psychology and an associate’s degree in occupational therapy. She holds an associated certified coach credential from the International Coaching Federation and has completed an ADHD and executive functioning coaching program with JST Training.

Abby Allen on Aug. 4 opened a new gym called Soli Deo Gloria Fitness & Health at 767 Shades Mountain Plaza in a 2,500-square-foot spot between Benchmark Physical Therapy and Sampson Dentistry. For the past two years, Allen has been leading cardio, strength and high-intensity interval training at the Shades Crest Baptist Church Family Life Center, but she has outgrown the space available there. She plans to offer classes Monday-Saturday and has memberships for 2-3 days a week or 4-6 days a week. 205-617-9609

OsteoStrong, a health and wellness center that aims to help people improve their overall health by caring for and strengthening their skeletal system, has opened a location at 5884 Elsie Road in the Knox Square shopping center in Trace Crossings. Goals include lessening joint and back pain and improving bone density, posture, balance and athletic performance. A ribbon cutting was held with the Hoover Area Chamber of Commerce on July 29. The business, which is owned by Hoover residents Ashley and Matt Laird, also has a location at 4851 Cahaba River Road, Suite 121. 205-771-0889; OsteoStrong Hoover on Facebook.

The Joint Chiropractic has opened a new location at 5854 Elsie Road in the Knox Square shopping center in Trace Crossings, across from Hoover Metropolitan Stadium. The chiropractic clinic has evening and weekend hours in addition to daytime service, and no appointments are necessary. There are more than 950 locations of The Joint Chiropractic across the country. 425-475-2041

COMING SOON

Urban Cookhouse plans to open a fifth Birmingham area location at Stadium Trace Village in Hoover. The restaurant chain was started by David and Andrea Synder in Homewood in 2010 and since has expanded with three more locations in downtown Birmingham, in Crestline and at The Summit. There also are locations in Cullman, Tuscaloosa, Huntsville and Nashville.

The Hoover restaurant will be in the 3,200-square-foot spot in Stadium Trace Village originally slated to have a Rodney Scott’s BBQ restaurant, next to Hero Doughnuts. It will share an outdoor patio with Hero Doughnuts. The target opening date is December, Andrea Snyder said. Urban Cookhouse offers entrees that include grilled chicken, steak and rice, shrimp kabobs, veggie quesadillas, chipotle-braised pork, turkey and pineapple ham, as well as a wide variety of sandwiches, salads and wraps. Sides include hot cheddar pasta, roasted vegetables, rice pilafs, broccoli salad, garden salad and fresh fruit. 

Brian Mooney, the owner and executive chef at Tre Luna Bar & Kitchen in The Village at Brock’s Gap, plans to open a new restaurant in the 2,800-square-foot former Glass Panda restaurant spot at 1031 Brock’s Gap Parkway, Suite 151. He plans for it to be more upscale than Tre Luna and is toying with the idea of reservations only, he said. Mooney in late June said he did not have a name finalized but hoped to be open by late September.

Habaneros Mexican Grill, which closed at 1601 Montgomery Highway earlier this year, is reopening in The Centre at Riverchase in the former location of Baja California Cantina and Grill at 1694 Montgomery Highway. 205-979-7772; Habaneros on Facebook

Sweet Roll, a rolled ice cream shop, is opening at 3421 South Shades Crest Road, Suite 113, near John Hawkins Parkway. The shop will be open 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Friday; 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday and 9 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday.

BP Baker’s Pizza Wings and Grill plans to open soon at Shades Mountain Plaza.

NEWS AND ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Broad Metro is asking the city of Hoover to approve preliminary plans for a second phase of the Stadium Trace Village development with nine lots and four common areas. The property is zoned for a community business district and agricultural use. The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to consider the request at its Sept. 2 meeting.

Medistar Corp., acting on behalf of South Haven Corp., is asking the city of Hoover for permission to put a medical office building in the second phase of the Stadium Trace Village development off Peridot Place. The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission is scheduled to consider the request at its Sept. 2 meeting. The State Health Planning and Development Agency has given permission for the Forest Park Group to build an orthopedic-focused multi-specialty ambulatory surgery center called South Haven Surgical Plaza. The proposal was to have six operating rooms and two procedure rooms. The primary focus for the surgery center was proposed to be orthopedics, pain, plastics and general surgery, with an anticipation to expand to other specialties.

Ivan Blackmon is asking the city of Hoover for permission to put a Foosackly’s restaurant with a drive-through on a vacant lot at 5552 Grove Blvd. in The Grove shopping center. Foosackly’s is a chicken finger restaurant that started in Mobile in 2000. The Hoover Planning and Zoning Commission is set to consider the request at its Sept. 2 meeting.

Chorus, a home services company, is expanding beyond its home security, automation and audio-visual services to offer termite protection, pest control and mosquito management under the name Chorus Pest. Chorus Pest is led by a team with a proven track record in the pest industry across multiple markets, including Steven Splawn and Eric Frye, the former owners of Wayne’s Pest Control. Wayne’s was acquired by the Sweden-based Anticimex in 2019.  Initially, Chorus Pest will serve six markets, including Birmingham, Huntsville, Auburn/Montgomery, the Alabama Gulf Coast, the Florida Emerald Coast and the Nashville metro area. Chorus is headquartered at 100 Concourse Parkway in Riverchase. 205-978-1234

Nathan Click and Steve Foster of TherapySouth, Jegil Dugger of Pye POS and Dr. Madhav Devani of Ross Bridge Medical Center were among the UAB alumni recently honored with Blazer Fast 40 Awards by the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s National Alumni Society. The awards recognize the fastest-growing businesses led by UAB alumni, based on verified revenue growth, and were presented during a ceremony at UAB’s Hill Student Center. Click and Foster lead TherapySouth, a therapist-owned outpatient physical therapy practice with multiple clinics across the metro area, including locations in north Hoover, the South Shades Crest Road area, Riverchase and Greystone. TherapySouth provides hands-on, personalized care to help patients recover from injury and improve mobility. Dugger is the founder and CEO of Pye POS, a Hoover-based technology company specializing in automated payment solutions for restaurants and retailers. Dugger, a former UAB football player, has grown Pye POS into one of the fastest-growing businesses in its category. Devani serves as medical director of the Ross Bridge Medical Center, which provides family medicine services.

Capstone Building Corp., based at 1200 Corporate Drive, Suite 350 in Meadow Brook Corporate Park, has completed construction on a $40 million single-family rental cottage development in Calabash, North Carolina, called Heartsease at Calabash and a $78 million rental cottage development in Greer, South Carolina, called LEO Jamestown. Heartsease at Calabash, a development by EYC Companies, features 158 craftsman-style cottages across nearly 40 acres, maintain a density of four unit per acre. It includes single-level floor plans, duplexes with one and two bedrooms and stand-alone cottages with one, two or three bedrooms raning from 1,067 to 1,588 square feet. It also has a clubhouse, saltwater pool, fitness center, pickleball courts, poolside fire pits and park swings, walking trails, open green space, picnic areas and a pond. LEO Jamestown, developed by Advenir Oakley Capital, includes 296 cottages with one to three bedrooms and covers a total of 345,000 square feet. It also has a resort-style pool, pool house, clubhouse, fitness center and outdoor green spaces. 205-803-5226

Steve Swofford, the CEO of Alabama Credit Union, which has a branch at 1604 Montgomery Highway in Hoover, recently received a Distinguished Service Award from The League of Credit Unions and Affiliates for demonstrating a lifetime of commitment, leadership and impact on the credit union movement. He began his career at Alabama Credit Union in 1998. 888-817-2002

Diversicare of Riverchase Healthcare & Rehabilitation Center at 2500 River Haven Drive has been honored with Diversicare’s 2024 Award of Excellence, the company’s highest recognition for outstanding performance in clinical care, operations, and overall excellence.  Diversicare provides post-acute care services to skilled nursing center patients and residents in six states, primarily in the Southeast, Midwest and Southwest. Diversicare operates 51 locations, including skilled nursing, long-term care facilities and one behavioral health facility. 205-987-0901

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama was recognized by USA Today as one of America’s best customer service providers for 2025. The recognition is based on public data and a survey conducted by Plant A Insights Group that reviewed topics such as friendliness and appreciation of customers, professional competence, customer service effectiveness, availability and accessibility, speed of solutions, solution-oriented approaches, and transparency and reliability. 855-890-7416

PERSONNEL MOVES

David Wells, president and CEO of Alabama Goodwill Industries, which has a donation center at 6215 Tattersall Blvd., Suite 105, in Tattersall Park and a store and donation center at 5287 U.S. 280 in Brook Highland, recently announced he will retire effective Oct. 31. Wells had led the organization through a 325% increase in revenue since 2018, the expansion of its workforce from 110 to 520 employees and a significant rise in donations, mission services and job placements. Donations increased 762% from $58,000 to more than $500,000 in 2024, and job placements rose to 798 in 2024, while the pounds of donations recycled grew from 2.2 million to 19 million. Wells also spearheaded the creation of Alabama Goodwill Contract Services in 2023, expanding opportunities for individuals with significant disabilities through the federal AbilityOne Program. The Alabama Goodwill Board has formed a succession committee and initiated a national search for its next CEO. 205-438-6010 and 205-775-0288

Southern Energy Credit Union, which has locations in Hoover at 4725 Chace Circle and 6400 Tattersall Park Drive, recently announced that President and CEO Derrick Ragland Jr. is retiring Sept. 30 after 43 years of service. Andy Rush, who currently serves as vice president and chief operating officer, will become the next president and CEO. During his 23-year tenure with the credit union, Rush has worked in accounting and operations, developing expertise in strategic planning, operational excellence and member-focused innovation. Ragland became president and CEO in 2016, and under his leadership, the credit union was recognized for operational excellence and a commitment to credit union values, completed two strategic mergers which led to a subsequent rebrand in the last two years, and established the SouthernEnergy Credit Union Foundation to support long-term charitable giving. Southern Energy Credit Union, formerly APCO Employees Credit Union, is a nonprofit full-service financial institution that serves employees, retirees and families of Southern Company and its affiliates. It nowhas more than 90,000 members, 30 credit union branches across Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi and more than 5,000 credit union service centers across the nation. 205-824-7403 and 205-547-9400

Felicia Mason is retiring as executive director of the Alabama Press Association on Sept. 1 after 38 years with the organization. Brad English, the APA’s advertising manager, will become the new executive director, and Leigh Tortorici, the senior marketing representative, will move up to the advertising director position. Both English and Tortorici have worked alongside Mason at the APA for 24 years. Mason began her newspaper career as a sales representative and later as retail sales manager for The Crimson White student newspaper at the University of Alabama. After graduating with a degree in marketing, she joined APA as a sales/marketing representative in 1987. She was promoted to advertising manager at APA in 1991 and associate executive director in 1998. Following Bill Keller’s retirement in 2000, she became APA’s 11th executive director and the first woman to hold the position in APA’s 154-year history. English joined APA in 1991 as a sales rep for the Alabama Newspaper Advertising Service. Since 2000, he has served as advertising director, leading all revenue-generating activities for ANAS. In 2010, English took over the lobbying efforts of APA, serving as the governmental affairs director. Tortorici, who also joined APA in 1991, initially worked part-time and became the full-time assistant to Executive Director Mike Ryland before his passing. Tortorici moved over to sales for the advertising service not long after that. Since 2000, she has served as the senior sales representative for ANAS. The APA is based at 2180 Parkway Lake Drive in Hoover. 205-871-7737

ANNIVERSARIES

D.F. Hughes Design Build at 4958 Valleydale Road, Suite 102, this year is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The business, led by owner Darrell Hughes and principal designer Nicole Shultz, offers residential remodeling and interior design services, including kitchen and bath renovations, basement and attic finishing and full home remodels. The company has earned dozens of Alabama Remodeling Excellence Awards over the years. 205-635-4390

CLOSINGS

The Glass Panda Asian food restaurant at 1031 Brock’s Gap Parkway, Suite 151, restaurant in The Village at Brock’s Gap, has closed.