Support local with these 7 companies founded in Alabama

Alabama is not only our home, but home to many businesses and companies. Not sure which ones? I made a list of seven companies founded in Alabama. Check it out. Let’s see how many spots you can guess right.

1. Conecuh Sausage (Evergreen, AL)

The first of these seven companies founded in Alabama is Conecuh Sausage. The family-owned and operated business began in 1947 in Evergreen, AL, according to the Conecuh Sausage website. The company prides itself on making the finest hickory smoked sausage and I must say that it always ends up being the preferred meat at my family breakfast. Conecuh Sausage’s headquarters is still in Evergreen and their product can be found in grocery stores around the state.

2. Jack’s (Homewood, AL)

Jack’s was founded on November 21, 1960 in Homewood, AL as a walk-up hamburger joint. According to their website, it was an instant hit. How could it not be with 10-cent sodas, 15-cent fries and 20-cent shakes? It has almost 200 locations in Alabama Tennessee, Georgia and Mississippi.

3. Checkers (Mobile, AL)

Another one of these companies founded in Alabama is Checkers. We primarily know Checkers as a sister company of Rally’s, but what you may not have known is that they were founded in different states. According to entrepreneur.com, Jim Mattei opened Checkers in 1986 in Mobile, AL and Rally’s first opened in Louisville, Kentucky in 1985 by Jim Patterson.

In 1999, the two merged into a double drive-thru burger chain. In addition to burgers, the restaurant now offers:

• Chicken
• Fish
• Hot Dogs
• Fries
• Desserts

4. Golden Flake (Birmingham, AL)

Looking for a good snack? I recommend my favorite Golden Flake Sweet Heat Barbecue chips—a Birmingham original. Golden Flake, originally known as Magic City Foods, was founded in Birmingham in 1923 by Frank Mosher and Mose Lischkoff.

What Golden Flake potato chip flavor is your go-to?

5. Books-A-Million (Florence, AL)

Books-A-Million (BAM) is one of my favorite spots for a good book and latte. Did you know that BAM was founded in Alabama? According to zippia.com, it started off as a street corner newsstand in Florence in 1917. BAM was run by 14-year-old Clyde W. Anderson, a boy who dropped out of school to support his family after his father’s death.

In 1950, Anderson’s son, Charles C. Anderson inherited the store and expanded it into a chain of stores called Bookland. Bookland was later rebranded to what we know as Books-A-Million. By 1995, it became the fourth-largest book retailer in the U.S.

6. Buffalo Rock (Birmingham, AL)

Remember seeing people with blue polos carrying cases of Pepsi brand sodas? They are a part of Buffalo Rock. Buffalo Rock is one of the largest single-family privately owned Pepsi-Cola bottlers. It was founded in 1901, but its story spans over 100 years and four generations of the Lee family, according to Buffalo Rock’s website.

Their website states that in the late 1800s, with the founding of the wholesale Alabama Grocery Company by Sidney W. Lee, the firm moved into the soft drink business when Lee and a Selma chemist, Ashby Coleman, developed Buffalo Rock Ginger Ale. The drink soon became popular in 1927 and became the sole business of the renamed Buffalo Rock Company.

Today, Buffalo Rock operates 14 franchise locations in Alabama, Florida and Georgia.

7. Milo’s Hamburgers (Birmingham, AL)

Milo’s Hamburgers is one of our favorite family-made companies that originated in Alabama. Founded in 1946, a man by the name of Milo Carlton opened the burger shop in Birmingham. The shop was located at 31st Street and 12th Avenue North. Milo’s offers burgers, chicken fingers, milkshakes and their oh-so popular sweet tea.

The fast food chain has been distributing its tea brand to over 19 states including Hawaii and parts of Florida since the 1980s. The company is now run by CEO Tricia Wallwork—the granddaughter of Milo and Bea Carlton.

Did we miss one of your favorite companies founded in Alabama? Tag us @TheBamaBuzz on socials and let us know.