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Apr. 5—A new restaurant, mattress store, Pilates studio, mini-storage facility and real estate offices are among the businesses that are about to open or have recently opened in the Decatur area.
Darlene and Renee Hughes are following a dream of opening a restaurant with the Rusty Rooster, "a meat-and-three" establishment, in the former Hard Hat Café location at 1310 Church St. N.E.
"It will be good Southern food," Darlene said.
Darlene left Wolverine Tube Inc. after five years to start and run the restaurant as the cook while Renee is staying on at Wolverine. Renee will handle the books and payroll of the restaurant in this family-run business.
"Cooking is just a passion of mine," Darlene said. "I had some health issues that scared both of us, and I decided that I was going to do what makes me happy."
The restaurant will be open from 5 a.m. to 3 p.m. on week days, serving breakfast and lunch.
If they can get their certificate of occupancy from the city and pass their county health inspection, the pair said they're hoping to do a soft opening for friends and family on April 12 and open for the public April 14.
"I told (Renee) this weekend is going to be like the crucible for the Marines," Darlene said. "We've still got some painting to do and odds and ends stuff, but we've got a lot to do."
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New location
MarMac Commercial and Huston & Lee Property Management moved to a 4,000-square-foot building at 810 Sixth Ave. S.E.
Shane Odom, of MarMac Commercial, said they moved so they would have more space for 10 agents and the accounting department.
"We also needed more visibility," Odom said.
The building is the former location of Whitmire, House, Propst and Richardson law firm.
The move created two openings at Mark Moody's MarMac building at 2114 Central Parkway S.W. ABA Service Providers filled one of the spots.
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Women's exercise
Amanda Maza, with support from her husband Pedro Maza, opened WISEBarre Pilates Studio on St. Patrick's Day in the former MarMac Commercial spot.
Maza and her instructors, Mulan Thornberry and Elizabeth Iverson, provide several different exercise specialties that include yoga barre (an exercise that combines ballet with yoga), Pilates, yoga and spin in this women-only studio. Maza holds multiple certifications, and Thornberry is certified as a yoga instructor.
A 2002 Decatur High School graduate, Maza is a former instructor at Decatur Athletic Club and Elevate Studio. She said she will continue with the mat Pilates class on Mondays at the Carnegie Visual Arts Center.
She hopes to offer outside yoga classes in a patio area at the rear of the MarMac building soon.
Maza said the classes are for women only because "I really want the women to feel good about themselves. Some women feel uncomfortable going into the gym, especially because half of the time they don't know what they're doing."
Classes are held six days a week. Registration for the classes is online at wisebarre.com.
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Mattress store
Hartselle residents could soon be getting a better night's rest with the help of Tim Taylor's Rest Nest, a mattress business that opened recently on U.S. 31 in the shopping center anchored by Walmart.
A former health care administrator and a licensed homebuilder, Taylor said he saw an opportunity in the mattress sales market. A friend recommended the business after having success selling mattresses.
His business sells mattress and other mattress-related items like pillows, sheets, comforters and adjustable bases.
"We saw that the area needed the opportunity to get value," Taylor said. "A lot of stores sell expensive mattresses but they're not high quality and at a reasonable cost."
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Back in real estate
Joey Crews, who previously owned Shops on 2nd, is back in the real estate business after taking over real estate attorney Ernie Ball's business on Grant Street Southeast and renaming it First Choice Title & Closing. Ball retired at the end of 2024.
Crews is a licensed title investment agent. The Security Title Guarantee Corp. of Baltimore underwrites his company.
Working with a real estate license since 2001, Crews said he averaged 100 closings a year. He has a real estate team in Anniston, but now only has a small interest in that business. Shops on 2nd closed in December, so he's back in the business he loves.
"I basically sell title insurance without a law degree, but my underwriters have law degrees" Crews said. "I can sell title insurance and conduct closings. The only thing I can't do is create a deed, so I hire that out."
Crews said lawyers who handle real estate closings are more prevalent in north Alabama, but a title company handling closings is more prevalent in other areas of the country.
"It will be the trend of the future," he said.
As part of the agreement with Ball, Nikki Walker, office manager and senior closer, Jessica Collins, processor, and Cameron Anders, receptionist in training as a pre-closer, continue to work with Crews. Attorney Buzz Brown is creating deeds and providing legal advice.
Based on his past closings, Crews said his goal is to improve communication with real estate agents on how a sale or purchase is progressing toward the closing date.
"It didn't always happen that way," Crews said.
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Graphic design
People in the area now have a new place, Elevated Design Inc., to get graphic designs for print and digital media. Autumn Fox is operating the new business out of her Hartselle home.
Fox worked at Tennessee Valley Printing for more than eight years. She decided to stay home after having her second child, but admitted she was bored.
"I love doing my designs," Fox said. "My husband, Adam Fox, said he believes this is the perfect time to start a business."
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Mini-storage
Construction has begun on Breland Co. LLC's mini-storage business at 2611 U.S. 31 S. This 9.19-acre property is adjacent to Francesco's Italian Restaurant.
In October, the Planning Commission approved a site plan that features an office with four buildings. Three of the buildings will be just over 584 square feet. The fourth will be 585 square feet.
— bayne.hughes@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2432
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