Tag Archives: AL

UPDATED: Trader Joe’s arrives in Birmingham in late 2015

UPDATE: 9/17/2014As suggested in the second paragraph below, this afternoon the Birmingham Business Journal has confirmed the space Trader Joe’s will occupy is the current Banana Republic location.

trader-joesMembers of the “Bring Trader Joe’s to Birmingham” fan page on Facebook, rejoice! Trader Joe’s has announced their intention to open at The Summit during the second half of 2015, according to reports from AL.com and ABC 33/40 this morning. Both cite a release from the Monrovia, California-based company, notoriously tight-lipped about proposed locations until absolutely necessary, saying the 12,600 square foot store will be at 209 Summit Boulevard – the development’s southern portion.

The address suggests there will be other announcements in the coming days about new construction or the relocation and/or closing of stores (though the AL.com version of the story has been updated with the exact address being removed) as there is no vacancy currently in that portion of the lifestyle center.

A search of the city’s permitting database in late February and early March suggested a new project was coming to the popular lifestyle center. The location is more central to the metro area than people realize (and still within Birmingham’s city limits — as are the Nordstrom Rack and Target locations in Shelby County). The announcement also does not contradict a statement made back in 2011 — and comments made by the store’s founder at that time. The store’s size and announced location follow a trend first examined in 2011 by the Los Angeles Times — one seen as a way to capture more revenue. It will be the first full-service grocer at The Summit since Bruno’s closed in May 2009 following its parent company’s bankruptcy filing.

A representative for the chain informed the Birmingham Business Journal as recently as March that the market was not on the radar. This was shortly after an anonymous tip sent to this website led to attempts to reach out to both Trader Joe’s and Bayer Properties this spring. No response was received.

Huntsville was optimistic about its chances of landing a Trader Joe’s (as evidenced by this Reddit thread), but today’s announcement came with a statement similar to that one about Birmingham in 2011. It may only be a matter of time then, Rocket City…

Area taxis become latest tool in efforts to fight crime

T.O.P. in BaltimoreThe next time you see one of the city’s Yellow Cabs rolling through Birmingham city streets, realize they might be doing a little more than just heading to their next fare. They’re probably helping keep your neighborhood safe.

The Birmingham News reported early Monday morning about the new Taxis on Patrol initiative underway courtesy of the city’s police department and Yellow Cab of Birmingham. It’s not the first civic-minded initiative undertaken by the company as it’s also coordinated a Safe Ride Home initiative popular during the holiday season in recent years.

A similar project started in Baltimore, MD in the 1970s. Recent success in Denver, CO has resulted in an increased amount of adoption across the country, including communities like Broward County, FL; Nassau County, NYSavannah, GA; and Toledo, OH.

While our local effort is based on the Citizens on Patrol initiative, the recent announcement could also be seen as part of a larger effort underway by the Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Foundation (TLPF) to see a broader adoption of the Transportation On Patrol (TOP) educational program nationwide – one that’s been underway since last April.

Photo: Yellow Cab with T.O.P. badge in Baltimore, MD, April 2012.

It’s Nice… returns with Edwin Marty

Edwin MartyEdwin Marty has dedicated the last ten years to helping metro Birmingham understand why organic food is important to its future.

After seeing Molly Folse’s post in March announcing his resignation from Jones Valley Urban Farm (it happened earlier this month), it made sense to interview him as the next subject of the “It’s Nice to Have You in Birmingham” video series hosted over on Dear Birmingham. We’ve previously featured an interview with Sharrif Simmons, founder of the BAAM Festival.

The idea behind the series is to talk with those that are doing things in Alabama’s Magic City about the project in addition to issues facing the region.

Marty’s departure has been written about in recent months by both Birmingham Weekly and The Birmingham News. Incidentally, if you don’t click through to see the video, you may want to at least learn about where he’s headed next

#ALsnOMG11: The next day

A better perspective - #ALsnOMG11. acnatta/FlickrWe figured we’d share the view from just outside our window this morning. It may look beautiful, but it’s not something you’ll want to venture out in this morning if you don’t have to.

We’re currently hearing multiple reports of dangerous and impassible roads, layers of snow and ice blanketing the streets of metro Birmingham, AL and most area businesses (and government offices) are closed. While it’ll probably be nice to take a couple of pictures from right outside your door (we’ve set up a page with all of the ways you may do so & we’ll share any that come in), we’re hoping that folks for the most part stay inside today.

Photo: A better perspective – #ALsnOMG11. acnatta/Flickr.

Good thing we saved the fire station in July…

Surveying Engine No. 22No, there’s nothing new to report about the status of the former Fire Engine No. 22. located at the edge of the city’s Forest Park and Highland Park neighborhoods. We haven’t heard much about the structure since the approval of its sale to developers who want to open a Walgreens location on the site by the Birmingham City Council.

The agreement moved forward with the provision that if the structure, included on the National Register of Historic Places, could not be saved and used in the project, it would be abandoned.

One of the reasons that the proposed agreement was considered a success was because of a compromise reached due to an agreement between several national drug store chains and the National Trust for Historic Preservation dating from 2000. The fight to save the building was led by local groups including I Believe in Birmingham. Continue reading

Learn more about the Other Birmingham

screenshot from "The Other Birmingham"A couple of years ago there were a couple of incidents involving folks from Birmingham, AL and the city we’re named after, Birmingham, UKconfusing the skylines of the two cities separated by the Atlantic Ocean.

There’s an online resource that should help keep that from happening again.

The Other Birmingham was created by Fiona Cullinan, who originally created the piece for her travel journalism blog as a one-off. She has since maintained the site, enabling her to accept additional submissions about similarities between the two cities as well as suggestions about what else should be covered. There’s been a lot looked at already, including that growing list of similarities

By the way, there are several cities named Birmingham in the United States. They’re considerably smaller, like Birmingham, MO (population 214 according to the 2000 Census) and Birmingham, MI (pop. 19,291) to not even in existence anymore (e.g., Birmingham, KY).

Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving turkey. WishUponACupcake/FlickrBirmingham’s just a little quieter than normal as people begin to make that journey over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house (or wherever their journeys may be taking them today). It is known as the busiest traveling day of the year, but we knew there’d be a few of you checking in…

So we’re hoping that you’ll be willing to share your stories with the rest of The Terminal’s community during the next couple of days. Today’s Magic City Question hopes that we’ll learn more about long-standing and new traditions for the holiday while we’re taking a page out of The New York Times‘ book and seeing if folks are willing to share photos of their pending feasts and all of the preparation that goes along with it.

No matter what you choose to do, we hope that you enjoy Thanksgiving tomorrow!

Photo: Thanksgiving turkey. WishUponACupcake/Flickr