www.VillageLivingOnline.com
Village Living
SHOP LOCAL
Shopmountainbrook.com helps merchants and residents By ANNE WOOD Local Mountain Brook businesses have joined together on shopmountainbrook. com to promote and sustain Mountain Brook’s unique shops and restaurants. The new website is a joint venture of the Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce and Magic City Media. “Shopmountainbrook.com has helped me reach out to customers in new and creative ways that I never would have even thought of,” said Snoozy’s Kids owner George Jones. “Most people who we contact through the site and through email we see in the store, sometimes as soon as the next day.” The site allows shoppers to not only purchase products and gift certificates but also to review a business, find restaurant menus, be kept up-to-date on its events and promotions and receive customer service through the website’s live chat option. By viewing the site’s business directory, you can find more than 100
businesses that are organized into over 50 specific categories. The site is just as helpful to store owners as it is to shoppers. According to information provided by the website, 82 percent of all products and services are researched online before a purchase is made. Business owners can partner with the website to receive the promotional benefits provided by being online and a part of that 82 percent. Shopmountainbrook.com also provides information about shopping locally, and the community aspect of local shopping is promoted on the site’s event calendar, photo of the day page and customer reviews and communication. To support the efforts to keep revenue local, visit www.shopmountainbrook.com. For more information on the website, contact Emily Lowrey at 250-9037 or emily@ magiccitypost.com.
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Women & Money
Sat. Nov. 5th, 9 am - 12:30 pm Are you a female who wants to re-enter the business world or do you need sound advice on savings and retirement? Designed specifically for women who are recently widowed or divorced, this seminar will provide insight into handling your family’s finances. A light breakfast and lunch will be served. The program is free but registration is required. Register online at www.eolib.org or call 445-1118.
By ANNE WOOD of capturing and keeping revenue local because it would potentially improve the economy. Dollars spent at locally-owned businesses have three times the impact on the community as dollars spent at chains do. Keeping revenue local creates jobs, funds city services, and promotes community development. Although Hydinger admits that the current “Buy Local” projects are in infant stages, he is confident in their growth. “The chamber has supported the Buy Local campaign for two years now and recently augmented that with projects like shopmountainbrook.com,” he said. “The site has really helped enhance our message.” When asked what the main incentive to shopping locally was, Hydringer said, “Simply local support.” To support Mountain Brook and to see your tax dollars being used in your own community, think about if you can buy an item at a locally owned business before you make a purchase. Think local. Buy local.
November 2011 |
Emmet O'Neal Library
Chamber campaign for villages With its local shops and eatiers, Mountain Brook has always been known for its sense of community that the Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce is supporting with the “Buy Local” campaign it began two years ago. Steven Hydinger, the 2011 President of the Mountain Brook Chamber of Commerce, supports the initiative and mentions the chamber’s involvement with the new website shopmountainbrook.com. As a Mountain Brook native and graduate of MBHS, Hydinger is familiar with Mountain Brook’s sense of unity. Though Mountain Brook does a fair job of supporting local businesses, Hydinger knows that no community is perfect and there is always room for improvement. “We all, myself included, need to continue to remind ourselves to keep our dollars local,” he said. “It is not always possible, but we can try. We should shop locally first, before we look elsewhere to a chain.” Hydinger discussed the importance
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The Smart investing@your library series is a grant-funded program developed collaboratively by the American Library Association and the FINRA Investor Education Foundation.
For “ Holiday anti-stress” you’ve got to go to
You will find great gifts, free gift wrap, yummy candles, bubble bath and great smelling soaps. Michelle’s is the “comfort” store in Crestline. 81 Church Street, Ste. 104 870-1122 • 10am-5pm Open Sundays in December 1- 5!
ESTATE JEWELRY
Area shops take part in inspiration home
Six Mountain Brook shops are participating in the Birmingham Home & Garden magazine 2011 Inspiration Home. This Cahaba Heights/Overton Village area show home is open for tours Nov. 19 through Dec. 4, and all profits will go to The American Diabetes Association. “Mountain Brook shops are selling products and services that are the caliber we want to represent, and they also have a heart for giving back,” said Cathy Still Johnson, editor of Birmingham Home & Garden. Wesley Lassen, owner of The Cook Store, says she thinks the Inspiration Home is a great way to show off her store in a real life home environment. “We’re a shop, not a home,” said Wesley. “In a home setting, people will see our lines in a different light.” Paige Albright of Paige Albright Orientals reiterates that message. “People sometimes feel like they need to go to Atlanta or New Orleans to get the things
they need for their home, but it’s just not true. We have lots of great resources in Mountain Brook.” Beverly Ruff’s boutique antique shop sells one-of-a-kind antiques and pieces with a vintage look. European antiques from Henhouse Antiques owners Barbara Ashford and Judy Hill are used throughout the house. Suite Dreams has dressed the home’s bedrooms and bathrooms with a luscious ensemble of linens and headboards. And, Mulberry Heights will showcase their diversified line of rare French and English antiques. When Mountain Brook shops join forces, they are able to live out the community atmosphere that makes Mountain Brook special. You can join in their efforts by touring the Inspiration Home for home building and decorating ideas while supporting a worthy cause. Then, remember to shop locally! Find more information at www. birminghamhomeandgarden.com.
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