The Briary

The Briary is a tobacconist located in an 1899 farm house at 609 Oak Grove Road in Homewood, just off Oxmoor Road. The name comes from the briar wood commonly used to make smoking pipes. The store sells pipes, cigars, tabacco, humidors, lighters, and other tobacco-related items and is the exclusive North American distributor and wholesaler for Claudio Cavicchi, a famous Italian pipe maker. The shop is also involved in Internet sales.

The Briary originally opened as part of the Tinder Box chain in 1974 in Brookwood Village. Skip Elliott and his parents started the store, but Elliott's parents retired in 1984, making Skip the sole owner. Elliott also makes pipes by hand which are sold in the store.

In 2000, the store relocated to its current location, formerly occupied by Oak Grove Antiques. Elliott had the house completely renovated before opening on March 8. The new location more than doubled the amount of space available, from 625 square feet in the mall to around 1,300 square feet, which allowed the addition of a special smoking room. The property also features the home's original outhouse, one of two original outhouses left in Homewood. The shop has a cat named Al in residence.

Preceded by: Oak Grove Antiques

609 Oak Grove Road 2000–present

Succeeded by: current

References

• "Business Is Smoking: Homewood Tobacco Shop Relocates in Historical House." (May 31, 2000). The Birmingham News.
• Park, Jennifer. (March 24, 2000). "The Briary finds its own patch in Homewood" [1]. Birmingham Business Journal.
• Sowards, Jordan. "Put this in your pipe and smoke it" [2]. Exodus (Samford University).

External links

• The Briary official website