Photo by Jesse Chambers.
Shoppe_Forest Park Village
Shoppe, a gift and floral shop in Birmingham’s Forest Park Village, is opening a store in the former Silvertron space.
When Silvertron Cafe closed in 2018 after 32 years, it left a big vacancy in Forest Park.
However, that vacancy will be filled soon by Jay Draper and Mark Thompson, the co-owners of Shoppe, which has sold plants, housewares and gifts since opening next door to Silvertron in 2017. The men announced in April they will keep Shoppe as it is and also expand into the 4,000-square-foot Silvertron space.
The new location — set to open in October — will be called General and have “sort of a general store feel,” Thompson said.
General will have a café serving light breakfast, lunch, loose leaf teas and coffees. The cafe “will be very casual” and “a place where people can gather and have family time,” he said.
Shoppe, which also has a small greenhouse, will maintain its focus on plants and related products, housewares and gift items.
“In our current store, plants are the main focus, but in the new store, food will be the main focus,” Thompson said.
General will have numerous food-related gift items, including teapots, cookbooks and kitchen gadgets.
The home section at General will also feature larger accessories and pieces of furniture that don’t fit in the 1,200-square-foot Shoppe, such as lamps and chests, Thompson said.
