The downtown elder

Downtown Birmingham is undergoing a renaissance with attractions such as Regions Field and Railroad Park, as well as new bars, shops and restaurants. But one longtime merchant said his loyalty to the area never wavered, even in the 1970s and 1980s, when many stores closed or left for the suburbs, taking shoppers with them.

“Downtown’s always been good for me,” said Mike Cohen, who founded Mike’s Fine Jewelry and Music Center, also a pawn shop, in 1965. “I’ve always enjoyed downtown. I never thought about going anywhere else.”

Cohen, whose store is on First Avenue North at 24th Street, started his business at 22 years old and continues to enjoy each day at work.

“I like the people,” he said. 

And Cohen seems to enjoy his role as a downtown elder.

“I’ll guarantee you at least 85 percent of the people who come in here know me, because I’ve been downtown, kind of like a fixture,” he said.

Cohen grew up around the pawn business and retail. His uncles, Ike and Abe Epsman, ran Chicago Pawn and New York Pawn, respectively — both on Second Avenue North.

He worked for Uncle Ike on Saturdays as a teen in the mid-1950s.

“That’s when you couldn’t walk down the street; it was so busy on Saturday afternoon,” Cohen said. “Nobody ever thought about going anywhere else to shop. Everybody went downtown.”

His dad, Barney, operated the Big Bargain Outlet secondhand store on Fourth Avenue North near 18th Street.

Cohen enjoyed the pawn business and was also inspired by the thriving commercial hub of Fourth Avenue North with its many clothing stores and eateries, including the Bohemian Bakery, a gathering place for merchants.

“Back then, everything was on Fourth Avenue,” he said. “There was … a lot of black- and white-[owned] businesses.”

After stints working with Lockheed in Atlanta and as a metals buyer for Jaffe-Whol Iron and Metal in Birmingham, Cohen opened his own place on Fourth Avenue, moving to his present location in 1981.

Downtown in 1965 — with its dime stores, department stores and movie houses — “was very busy,” Cohen said. “There were no empty buildings down here then.”

And as many retailers abandoned downtown for the shopping centers, Cohen resisted numerous offers from mall operators.

“Downtown was my spot,” he said. “I started downtown. My customer base was downtown, and … they were very loyal back then.”

And the prospects for business downtown are improving, according to Cohen.

“I think it’s getting better and better for small retail,” he said. “I think small businesses are … opening up slowly. They are waiting to see what’s coming, [but] I believe more people want to come to the downtown area.”

A lot of shoppers still frequent the malls, according to Cohen, but “they’re going to come back downtown — as soon as they get enough operations downtown to come to,” he said.

The new Publix grocery store in Midtown helps the area, according to Cohen.

“It makes it where you can live downtown and you don’t have to drive anywhere,” he said.

Parking could be a problem downtown, especially as more people come back, according to Cohen. “But I believe [the city] will do something about it,” he said.

The city has done more to revitalize downtown than many people think, according to Cohen.

“They have beefed up the police department downtown,” he said. “It’s a lot safer down here.”

And as shoppers return, they’ll still be able to find Cohen behind the counter at his store. 

“If I come downtown, I feel like I’m at home,” he said.