Cool News (Birmingham, Auburn: income, vs, car)

[Tourian]

Such a simple idea that blew up.


How 'BHM' on a hat grew into a nationwide company and one Homewood man's success story | AL.com

The Aviate brand came out of nowhere, even to its founder.
"Really, there was not much magic behind it," Founder and owner Ben Lancaster said. "We just had the idea to put BHM on hats."
You can't miss the hats around Birmingham, especially among the 20-something crowd: a soft ballcap with BHM across the front. You'll see them at pools, even at bars where baseball caps aren't common attire. The idea that seems so simple on its face – putting airport codes on a hat – has become really cool. And these aren't cheap hats – they'll run you $35 each.
They've become so cool, in fact, that it's difficult for even the owners to quantify their growth.
A quick browse through Aviate's website shows that many styles of their hats are sold out. The team gets a lot of complaints about that, Lancaster said, but they're still figuring a lot of it out. It's grown far, faster than they anticipated; they only recently produced enough hats that they were able to fulfill all their pre-orders. Aviate had to stop offering pre-ordering after orders greatly outpaced their production schedule.
The brand started off as just BHM hats. Lancaster, now 31, ordered a box of about 40 in May 2015 and sold them far faster than he expected. So he gave it a go as a real business and ordered 10 new cities, in places like Atlanta and Nashville where he had connections. Yet again: people wanted to buy them faster than he could supply them.

[TimCity2000]

Definitely see them all over the place here in town. Luckily, airport call signs like BHM and HSV are pretty easy to figure out. Doubt most people know BNA though. Good starting point for a conversation with a stranger though.

[Tourian]

Yeah, I imagine the less cryptic ones are more popular.

[steveklein]

Originally Posted by TimCity2000

Definitely see them all over the place here in town. Luckily, airport call signs like BHM and HSV are pretty easy to figure out. Doubt most people know BNA though. Good starting point for a conversation with a stranger though.

Nashville also has pro sports teams; Sporting TItans or Predators gear gets a similar effect to wearing a HSV or BHM cap.

[TimCity2000]

Originally Posted by steveklein

Nashville also has pro sports teams; Sporting TItans or Predators gear gets a similar effect to wearing a HSV or BHM cap.

right. so that combined with the fact that BNA is probably one of the more obscure (unless you live there) airport codes, i wonder if cities like that do worse for the Aviate brand than, say, BHM or HSV.

[GotLuv4Bham]

UAB unveils Alabama's fastest supercomputer!


http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingha...rcomputer.html

[Tourian]

How timely.


http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingha...-from-mil.html

The Birmingham Barons were recently awarded the Don Mincher Organization of the Year award by the Southern League of Professional Baseball Clubs.
Barons General Manager Jonathan Nelson was also named the Jimmy Bragan Executive of the Year.

"We're honored and humbled to be recognized by our peers in the Southern League," the Logan family said in a statement. "This award is a testament to our front office staff as well as the entire Birmingham community."

Under Nelson's leadership, the Barons have led the league in attendance the last four seasons, with 418,361 fans entering Regions Field this season.

Minor League Baseball referred to the Barons repeatedly as an "essential cog" in the greater Birmingham community.

[GotLuv4Ham]

Miner league baseball is meh in my book. Worth drive to Atlanta to see a real game.

[GotLuv4Bham]

Exactly Tourian!

[Lamar Bowman]

Originally Posted by GotLuv4Ham

Miner league baseball is meh in my book. Worth drive to Atlanta to see a real game.

Baseball is meh. I enjoy the short drive to beautiful Nashville or Atlanta for football. Good to see Legion Field is still a great place to see SWAC matchups and car break ins.

Regards