BIRMINGHAM, Alabama – Edgar's Bakery & Café will open its first downtown Birmingham location this fall in the Financial Center.

The Birmingham-based chain of bakeries will open its fifth Birmingham area store in 3,735 square feet of space on the ground floor in the Financial Center building at 505 20th St. North.

"With all of the interest and activity going on downtown with the revitalization, we knew we wanted to be a part of it," Terry Smith, who founded and co-owns Edgar's with wife, Dottie, said in an interview. "Many of our current customers work downtown and this will be great for them."

Edgar's is taking the space currently occupied by REV Birmingham. REV plans to relocate to another space within the Financial Center.

"Edgar's will be a great addition to the retail fabric of 20th Street," David Fleming, chief executive of REV, said. "We're working with the building owner to relocate and are working out the details now."

The Edgar's space on the northwest corner of the ground floor of the building will make it possible to add an outdoor patio and café to the building, which it plans to do.

That addition and Edgar's presence will enhance the other $3 million in improvements the building's new owner, Charlotte-based Allegiance Realty Corp., has been putting into sprucing up the exterior, tenant spaces, lobby and common areas since buying the Financial Center a year ago.

Those improvements should be complete as Edgar's is ready to open, completing the renewal of the Financial Center property, according to Hurston Raley, the Cushman & Wakefield-EGS Commercial Real Estate leasing agent for the building.

"The building is in a transitional stage into another chapter," Raley said. "The timing for improving the Financial Center and adding a tenant like Edgar's couldn't be better for both the building and everything else that is happening downtown."

The new Edgar's location will have 15 employees and, in addition to providing coffee, pastries, cakes, pies and other baked goods, will also serve full breakfast and lunch menus. The Smiths said they also want to have a significant catering presence for downtown offices, something the large kitchen planned for the Financial Center space will allow.

The total investment in the build-out has not been determined. Edgar's is partnering with Allegiance on the investment.

"We both recognize this is a premier location on the City Green – so outdoor, street accessible dining is important to us," Terry said. "It is a significant investment by both our companies that we are confident will be worthwhile. I think the community will be pleased with our design and it will be everything our customers expect from Edgar's."

Dottie said a downtown Edgar's has always been a dream of hers.

"We have been looking for the perfect downtown location for years," she said. "My parents grew up in Norwood and they were small business owners based in downtown Birmingham. I have special memories of visiting Boutwell Auditorium on school field trips and driving down 20th Street looking at Christmas lights with my family. Downtown is where we shopped, went to the Alabama Theatre and played in Linn Park. We are excited to bring Edgar's to downtown Birmingham."

Terry founded Edgar's in Birmingham almost 17 years ago with the first location at The Shoppes of Colonnade.

A 27-year veteran of the former Birmingham-based Bruno's Inc., he put his experience to work for what he saw as an under-served, over-the-mountain customer wanting a variety of fresh-made baked goods and cakes. It is named for Terry's father, Kelley Edgar Smith, whose hard work for The Birmingham News on the linotype floor for 35 years, inspired the son.

"Dad contracted spinal meningitis as a young boy and was left with complete hearing loss," Terry said of his father. "He learned the printing trade and was proud to work for The Birmingham News. He was raised at the Alabama School for the Deaf where he met my mom who was born legally deaf. My mom worked for the Bellsouth downtown office for 17 years until she retired. I am very proud of my family and I wanted our company to have the same attributes as my Dad and ... we just loved the name."

Terry said he didn't have a grand plan to open multiple bakeries.

"When we opened in The Colonnade, I thought it would be my only one," he said.

From The Colonnade, customers asked the Smiths to open a location closer to their homes and that has been a contributor to where and how Edgar's decides to grow next, they said.

Pelham, Hoover's Patton Creek and Greystone are the other Birmingham area locations. As the Smiths would go to Tuscaloosa for University of Alabama football games, they noticed Edgar's boxes on the quad and learned many were going to the Patton Creek Edgar's as part of their game-day ritual.

"That is really what led us to open our first location outside of Birmingham in Tuscaloosa," Dottie said.

Now the market and customer demand is bringing Edgar's to downtown Birmingham.

"We just strive to be wise stewards of God's blessings," Terry said. "Every day we face challenges, make adjustments and have a few successes, too. I guess our company is similar to our city of Birmingham, we grow, overcome obstacles, and continue to stay strong."