As published by The Birmingham News on February 25, 2009 by News staff writer Liz Ellaby:
Richelle and D. J. Davis say their decision to move south from Michigan to start their own businesses was a wise one.
The Trussville couple's new ice cream parlor and pastry shop, The Sweet Stop, is the first retailer open at Hoover's Ross Bridge mixed-use community, and traffic has been steady among moms and the after-school and weekend lunch and coffee crowd, they say.
The Davises are partners with D.J.'s sister, Staci Davis, and her husband, Nick Sims, who live in the Ross Bridge Village Center neighborhood.
"We'd always wanted to try and do a restaurant on our own," Richelle Davis said. "We had this idea and didn't feel it would be a successful venture in Michigan."
The couple moved from Michigan two years ago and opened their first business, Gatherings Cafe, in Trussville, 10 months ago.
The Sweet Stop provides a social connection for the Ross Bridge community, which now has more than 600 households. It also provides Blue Bell ice cream, banana splits, milkshakes, coffee, scones and muffins, candy, lunch items and box lunches to go. Salads, prepared by D. J. at Gatherings, are catered to the Ross Bridge business.
A grand opening is scheduled for Saturday.
"It's going very well," Richelle said. "We've been impressed. The kids in the area drive the business to us."
The shop is part of the Village Flats, a convenience center on Grand Avenue that includes 10 retail spaces in two buildings, each topped by a residential loft. Other businesses in line to open are the Ross Bridge Nail Spa, the Ross Bridge Family and Cosmetic Dentistry, and Drake Fitness, a gym and personal training service that will take several spaces.
All but two spaces are leased.
"From what I've heard, residents want somewhere else to go and something to eat beside going to the resort," said Miller Terry, an agent for The Shopping Center Group, which is handling the commercial leasing. Owner Signature Homes is handling loft sales.
"As soon as the building started going up, we got a lot of responses."
Ross Bridge, a joint venture of Daniel Corp. and U.S. Steel Corp., is a resort community off Alabama 150 surrounding the $70 million Renaissance Ross Bridge Golf Resort & Spa, which opened in 2005. As of last week, there were 616 occupied residences, about a third of the 1,800 planned, with 950 units expected to be filled by mid-summer.
The commercial segments of the subdivision, which also include an undeveloped 15 acres owned by another developer, were to be built according to demand.
Demand apparently grew along with construction delays at Village Flats. The development, scheduled to open last summer, was completed in late December.
"You can see how the neighborhood has been waiting for this by the amount of activity," said Jonathan Belcher, president of Signature Homes and a Ross Bridge resident. "People are coming here all the time. It's right by our offices, and we're always sneaking over to grab a milkshake."
The shop is open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. during the week and 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on weekends.
Click here to read the article on al.com.
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