More businesses moving into Vestavia Hills City Center

Three new businesses are moving into the Vestavia Hills City Center later this year, including Davenport’s Pizza Palace, Shoe Station and The Standard.

This will be Davenport’s second location in the greater Birmingham area, the first being in Mountain Brook.

The Standard, a fast-food restaurant in Pizitz Food Hall in downtown Birmingham, will also be opening its second location in the City Center.

Shoe Station, a retail company based in Mobile that sells footwear, is adding its first location in the Birmingham area to its roster of 22 stores across the country, with 11 of them being in Alabama.

“Shoe Station has proudly been serving Alabama families since 1984,” said Steve Meyer, regional director for Shoe Station, in a press release. “We’re thrilled to continue our home-state expansion with a future location in Vestavia Hills.”

Davenport’s first announced it would be opening a second location in Vestavia Hills last July.

“It’s been great so far,” said Amanda Thames, co-owner of Davenport’s. “We’re in the construction phase now, so we’ll start to see a lot of progress. We’re working with Prier Construction who are some Vestavia people, which is great for us and great for them. We’ve worked with them before, and they’re wonderful people … we’re moving right along.

“We are planning and hoping to open this summer,” Thames said.

Davenport’s has been in Thames’ family for three generations, she said. The first Davenport’s was opened in 1964 by Rex and Ardyce Hollis in Mountain Brook.

The restaurant was named after Rex’s friend, Jim “Peanut” Davenport, who was a professional baseball player with the San Francisco Giants. They grew up together in the Siluria neighborhood in Alabaster, per Davenport’s website.

The Giants had just played in the 1962 World Series, so Davenport was a familiar name in the area when Jim Davenport’s Pizza Palace opened in 1964, according to the restaurant’s website.

The pizzeria was located in Vestavia Hills in the 1980s when it was owned by her grandfather, Thames said.

“We had always talked about a second location in Vestavia Hills,” Thames said. “It’s pretty neat.”

The Standard’s new space was recently authorized for use by Jefferson County and the city of Vestavia Hills, said Young Shin, owner of The Standard.

The architect recently finished designing the interior, he said, and the general contractor they are using is ready to begin construction.

“We’ve done all of the scheduling for construction,” Shin said. “My architect finished her job, and I have a general contractor ready for the permits, so once we get done with that, he’ll be ready to go. Everything’s getting lined up to get started.”

He said he’s excited to open in the City Center.

Shin also owns Pho Pho Asian Cuisine in the Hoover Village shopping center and Pho Pho Vietnamese Sushi Bar in downtown Birmingham.

According to Crawford Real Estate Advisors, The Standard and Shoe Station are slated to open this fall.