Options for Serious Shoppers
Monroe County offers a wide range of options for the serious shopper! From our VF Factory Outlet Store (established here in 1981) to shopping the Downtown Square to visiting big box retailers (such as Wal-Mart) to visiting some of our unique country stores, you can literally “shop until you drop” in Monroe County! You also do not want to miss our museum gift shops. The Gift Shop in the Old Courthouse Museum offers several works by regional authors, as well as unique souvenir items.
As you walk the Monroeville Square, you will be amazed at the variety of shops and services you encounter — jewelry, religious books and gift items, several gift and accessories shops, hardware stores, a photographer, a framery, a thrift shop, a gardening and landscaping shop, antiques, bridal, hunting accessories, automobile dealership and a full service independently-owned grocery store.
As you go south of Monroeville immediately departing the Square, you encounter several more gift and accessories shops and florists. Monroeville also has several strip shopping centers that include larger retailers.
Outside Monroeville, you may wish to visit some of our country stores, such as the Lowery Trust Store at Burnt Corn or the O. B. Finklea Store at Beatrice. Both still contain the old rolling stock ladders. Finklea’s (in addition to its Alabama License Plate collection and old cigar cutter) sells hunting and fishing supplies, and hosts an annual “Chick Day,” where several hundred chickens are chirping inside the store’s confines, to the delight of area children. The Lowery Trust Store is famous for selling everything from hoop cheese to hardware, and still has dry goods stock dating from the turn of the century. You may also wish to visit “Miss Minnie and Me” Antiques & Gifts in Beatrice.
Other country stores include McKissick’s on County Road 17 in the Finchburg area (a great stop on the way to the Alabama River) and the W. E. Broughton Store in historic Perdue Hill, now in its third generation of ownership/management.
While in Perdue Hill, you do not want to miss Top of the Hill Enterprises, a home furnishings and interior design shop housed in a restored country store and post office.
Whatever your shopping needs, you will not want to miss visiting some of Monroe County’s retailers. Not only will you find great selections and prices — you will find friendly faces, beautiful gift wrapping and service second to none! Make sure you shop Monroe County, and if you don’t know where to find an item, call the Chamber of Commerce at (251) 743-2879!
