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By SCOTT MIMS / Staff Writer 

CALERA — You didn’t have to walk far in downtown Calera to find something happening the morning of Friday, Oct. 2—three businesses in the historic Main Street district celebrated grand openings in a triple-ribbon cutting ceremony.

Creations Galore & Moore, Main Street Fitness, and plant—all women-owned businesses—were included in the event. It was the second such triple-ribbon cutting in just a few months, as part of an effort of Calera Main Street to revitalize the area.

Main Street Fitness, located at 8267 U.S. 31, a workout facility specializing in functional fitness and supervised full-body workouts, started off the day’s festivities. Owner Dana McCreless, who was a personal trainer before opening up her business, thanked the community for their support.

“I have worked out forever, my entire life,” she said. “I was personal training at the time, and my members have been wonderful and followed me to this new location. Just their support and the support of my family is what led me to do this.”

McCreless explained that functional fitness is a kind of fitness that can morph to match anyone’s needs regardless of age or even the presence of injuries.

“Functional fitness is fitness for everyday people,” she said. “It’s the kind of movements like we do every single day.”

Just up the street is new bakery Creations Galore & Moore, located at 8261 U.S. 31, which specializes in custom wedding cakes, pastries and other delicacies.

Owner Nedra Moore was previously in the network engineering field and started baking about six years ago doing small cakes for family members and friends—and it didn’t take long for word to spread. She soon became a registered home baker for the city of Alabaster.

“Each month, it just got bigger and bigger and we ended up here,” Moore said. “I outgrew my home a couple of years ago. We just took a leap of faith and here we are.”

She said it was her grandmother who inspired her to cook.

“I developed my passion for cooking as a child but never thought that I would do it on a platform such as this,” Moore said. “She would always tell me you have to not only make your food taste good but it has to look good because people eat with their eyes far before they eat with their mouths.”

Finally, the celebration moved to plant—a botanical lifestyle shop specializing in houseplants, home décor and gifts—located at 10876 Alabama 25.

Owner Andrea Huff said it was her grandmothers who provided the inspiration for her love of plants going back to her childhood.

“Working with them in their yards growing up, working with them in the home and really just cultivating that love for plants and all things living, taking that Southern heritage that we have for plants and kind of making it our own,” Huff said.

Plant (written in all lowercase letters as “plant”) is currently offering Christmas ornaments, holiday décor with plants to pair with it all. And even if house plants are not your thing, they have lotions, candles and something for everyone.

“This thriving house plant community that we have now, we’ve always had so much focus into our yards, and now we want to bring it home and have that botanical lifestyle inside and outside of the home. I think it’s just really important to have a thriving, living presence in your home with some nice and unique décor,” Huff added.

For more information on the new businesses, visit their sites at Facebook.com/Main-Street-Fitness-Calera, Creationsgaloreandmoore.com, Facebook.com/CreationsGaloreand MooreLLC
or Facebook.com/plantcalera.