Rachael Headley
Monograms Plus
Tealla Stewart has owned Monograms Plus for 23 years and has been at the Vestavia Hills location for 10 years.
Tealla Stewart and her husband were on a business trip in Houston when they found the business investment they had been looking for: personalization.
Stewart, a former teacher at Vestavia Hills High School, had been brainstorming for months about what kind of business she wanted to open. She visited options like a potential doughnut shop, but nothing seemed right until she discovered the concept of a gift store with personalization options.
Stewart first opened Monograms Plus in Century Plaza Mall 23 years ago, and it has since changed location twice more: first to the Galleria and then to its current location of 10 years in Vestavia. When Stewart decided to move her business permanently to Vestavia, she had the close proximity to her home in mind and also her desire to invest in the community that she had come to love over the years.
“I’ve done business and lived in this city a long time,” Stewart said. “It was like coming home.”
Despite the store’s name, monograms are not the only service Stewart and her staff offer. In addition to traditional monogramming, they also offer vinyl monograms, engraving and embossing. All of their services are performed in-house and have a short turnaround time of about three days, depending on the season.
The products carried at Monograms Plus are not limited to personalized items. The store also offers everything from candles to pottery to books.
Monograms Plus is Birmingham’s most trusted monogramming store because of the many years of experience they have, Stewart said. The staff is often trusted with monogramming things as delicate as heirloom baby clothes, christening gowns, wedding dresses and wedding veils.
“I love seeing the community come in and shop for gifts and be so excited because they are going to be proud to give them,” Stewart said. “They are giving a quality gift, and the recipient will love it.”
April and May begin one of the busiest seasons of the year for the personalization industry because of Easter, Mother’s Day and graduation, Stewart said.
Purchasing for Mother’s Day can be stressful with all of the options out there, but Stewart says the best way to say “I love you” is with gift items such as jewelry, perfume, robes and Vera Bradley items.
When graduation invitations are flooding into mailboxes, it can be tough to figure out what to get each graduate for the next big step in their life. Giving something useful while still remaining personal can be a daunting task, but Stewart says that easy options such as shower wraps, gentlemen’s trays, luggage and laundry bags are always pleasing to graduates.
