SHEFFIELD – David Christopher’s Inc. in Sheffield is the 2023 Alabama Retailer of the Year Customers’ Choice Award winner. The Alabama Retail Association presented David and Jennifer Smith with their award on Thursday at their retail store at 411 S. Montgomery Ave. David Smith, the company’s namesake, also owns and operates a wholesale/import business, showroom and warehouse in Sheffield, and David Christopher’s has a permanent showroom at AmericasMart in Atlanta.
Among the 57 Alabama Retailer of the Year entrants, David Christopher’s received the most votes in a contest that ran from July 31 to Aug. 14 on the Alabama Retail Association’s website and Facebook. The seasonal decor store, with an emphasis on Christmas decor, received 976 votes, or 9% of the 10,445 votes cast. In the contest, customers called David Christopher’s the “go-to source for creative Christmas décor” and one even said, “you can have decorations, or you can have David Christopher’s … there’s only one choice!”
From left to right: Matthew Butler (Customer Service and Wholesale Operations Manager), April Campbell (Retail Store Manager), Jennifer Smith (Vice President, Marketing and Human Resources), David Smith (President, Designer), Katherine Ruggles (Retail Sales Associate), Summer McDuff (eCommerce & Website Coordinator), Alysia Hampton (Customer Relations Coordinator)
“We are humbled by the number of customers who took time to show their love and support for the David Christopher’s team,” the Smiths said upon learning of the award based on customer response. David Smith is the company owner, president and designer, while Jennifer Smith serves as vice president, leading human resources, marketing and day-to-day operations.
Caitlin Burns, president of Shoals Chamber of Commerce, who nominated the Smiths as Retailers of the Year, describes David Christopher’s as “a business that beautifies the Shoals and annually sponsors the chamber’s “Keep the Cheer Here” campaign” during the Christmas season. Besides holiday decorations, David Christopher’s also sells everyday florals and home decor products as well as furniture and gifts.
In 1975, Ricky and Kathy Smith, David’s parents, bought Wholesale Floral Mart and renamed it Smith Wholesale Floral Inc. David worked with his parents from an early age and eventually discovered an affinity for floral design. He convinced his parents to sell their products at the Atlanta Market. There, importers began to take note of David’s product designs and the David Christopher’s Collection, the import company and international brand, was born. David designs most of the products sold under the David Christopher’s label. In 2007, the Smiths opened a retail store in Florence, which moved in 2012 to Sheffield to consolidate the Smiths’ retail and wholesale operations. By 2014, David became the chief executive of the family business. During COVID, David and Jennifer Smith started a You Tube channel to connect with customers virtually, which resulted in decorating jobs with celebrities. “When Cardi B tagged us on her Instagram post after we decorated her trees for the third year in a row, our Instagram grew exponentially overnight,” the Smiths said in their Retailer of the Year entry.
Burns said the Smiths also “cater to their local community and even the most hapless of home decorators (like me).” One customer commented “Jennifer and David are true leaders in the community, not only in business, but in community support and engagement! They pour time and energy into training new leaders to be service-oriented!”
Jennifer Smith said that training team members to value customer service is a core function of their business, “We want David Christopher’s to be a place people can visit or call and be treated with respect and shown that we not only say we value them, as customers, but that we mean what we say.”
“The Smiths are retailers of the year EVERY year to David Christopher’s 14 employees, its customers worldwide as well as to the Sheffield and Shoals communities,” said Alabama Retail Association President Rick Brown.
2023 Retailers of the Year
Previous Retailers of the Year
Media Release/Nancy King Dennis, Alabama Retail
