Prattville Area Chamber of Commerce

6/30/2008 - Premiere Place adds 2 new stores

Premiere Place adds two new stores to lineup

Montgomery's Beads, Etc., Lee's Kids Shoes take vacant spots

By Jess NicholasProgress editor

June 28, 2008

Two stalwarts of the Montgomery retail scene are expanding operations into Autauga County, as Beads, Etc. and Lee's Kids Shoes announced they would locate in Prattville's Premiere Place Shopping Center.

"We're moving in next door to Tuesday Morning, in the old mattress store," said Leigh Manning, the owner of Beads, Etc. "Our businesses will open next door to each other."There's a good reason why the two stores will open in adjacent slots -- Leigh Manning is married to Mike Manning, the owner of Lee's Kids Shoes."The two reasons we came (to Prattville) was we had polled and talked to many of our customers," said Mike Manning.

"We have about 1,500 customers in the Prattville area. We asked them what would be a good location, and more than anything else, this location came up because of access from the street. When you have little kids, toddlers, you want to be able to get out of the car and go right in."While Beads, Etc. and Lee's Kids Shoes will have separate entrances into the building, there will be no partition between their sales floors. Customers who enter one business can go to the other without having to go back on the street.

Leigh Manning said her history with Beads, Etc. goes back a long way -- even before she owned it."Beads, Etc. has been in Montgomery since 1984. I was one of Rita Rosenthal's first employees there," she said. "I told her if she ever got ready to sell, let me know. I actually said it kind of jokingly. Well, she told me she was ready to sell.

"Mike Manning had a similar story about how he came to own Lee's Kids Shoes."It's been around a long time," he said. "It was Wagner Shoes/Buster Brown's Shoes in Montgomery Mall and had been there for more than 30 years. Doug Lee bought one of the stores and moved it out to Peppertree Shopping Center, and it's been there about 12 years. I bought it back in June 2007.

"Both stores will continue to operate their Montgomery locations. Beads, Etc. operates out of Eastdale Mall. The move into Premiere Place marks the first expansion for either business."We had looked at several other areas, different cities, elsewhere in Montgomery and even further (south)," said Leigh Manning. "But we decided that Prattville was the place for us to be."Both are Mannings are Montgomery natives, and with children still in Montgomery area schools, they say they plan to stay there for the time being."My husband and I have lived in Montgomery all our lives," said Leigh Manning. "We graduated from Lee High School."

To celebrate their grand openings, both stores will offer specials. Beads, Etc. plans to offer sterling silver at 40 percent off, while Lee's Kids Shoes will have specials on certain types of shoes. Mike Manning, however, said price wouldn't be what draws people to his shoe store."What I want to express to everyone is we fit every shoe that walks in the door," he said. "We don't just hang out a box. We make sure everything fits for that style. That's probably why people come to us."

Manning said his store currently carries shoes only for children, but may branch out into women's adults shoes later in the year.Both stores open Tuesday. While Lee's Kids Shoes and Beads, Etc. prepared to move in to their new locations, there was no word from Premiere Place on the status of a replacement for Belk -- which will move to another McClinton and Co. property, High Point Town Center, later this year -- or on repair efforts to other portions of the complex.

Premiere Place was damaged in the Feb. 17 tornado that hit Prattville. A company spokesperson Thursday declined to comment on either issue, saying the company representative responsible for Premiere Place's publicity was out of town.

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