Mazer
Mazer Discount Home Center was a furniture, appliance, and home remodeling showroom located in a shopping center on Green Springs Highway in Homewood formerly anchored by K-Mart. At closing, the business was owned by Michael Mazer, grandson of the founder.
Mazer Lumber and Supply was founded at 1300 8th Avenue North in 1932 when Ben Mazer, trying to support his family during the Great Depression, started selling materials salvaged from wrecked buildings. As the business expanded, new building supplies, bath and kitchen items, flooring, and appliances were added to the store's inventory.
By 1940 Mazer was operating as roofing and heating contractor and also selling lumber and supplies from his store at 1303 8th Avenue North, and David Mazer was operating a store and office equipment business at 2213–2215 3rd Avenue North.
In 1959, the business moved to 41st Street South in Avondale. There, the focus gradually changed from contractors to consumers. In 1965, Ben Mazer's son, J.B. Mazer, became president of the company.
In 1995, a second location opened in the former K-mart location on Green Springs Highway in Homewood. Originally just a furniture store, this location expanded over time, both in size and the types of merchandise. In 2005, Michael Mazer became president of the company. That year, the company also took over and renovated 30,000 square feet of the existing shopping center for use by its appliance and kitchen divisions. In 2007, construction began on a 60,000 square foot expansion, with half the space planned for use as retail space and the other half for warehousing.
Due to the deteriorating housing market, Mazer's Avondale location, which predominantly sold building supplies, closed in March 2009. The Green Springs Highway location, which featured furniture, appliances, flooring and kitchen and bath fixtures, closed in 2011. Just before closing, Mazer leased 33,000 of 250,000 square feet at that site to the Jimmie Hale Mission for a thrift store.
References
- Mazer History. Accessed January 19, 2009.
- Cooper, Lauren B. (February 16, 2007). "Mazer adding 60K square feet in Homewood." Birmingham Business Journal.
- Thornton, William (January 19, 2009). "Mazer to close downtown Birmingham location." Birmingham News.
- Swant, Martin (June 13, 2011) "Mazer Discount Superstore is closing, owner says." Birmingham News.
External links
- Mazer Discount Home Centers website