The Fine Clock Shop –
A Historic Look Back
The Fine Clock Shop opened
its doors in the summer of 1978 at 5907 Mesker st. in Weston, Wisconsin and
closed on Dec. 28th, 2005 at 5103 Lilac Ave. in Rib Mountain,
Wisconsin. Richard & Marjorie Dettmann were the original owners. Richard
Dettmann was a Factory Representative for several furniture companies from the
mid-1960’s up through the mid-1990’s. His companies included Ethan Allen,
Ridgeway, Singer, LampCraft, Whesco, Baldwin and over 30 other manufacturers.
His territory was primarily the state of Wisconsin, and he helped open many of
the Ethan Allen stores still in business today. In the early 1970’s he was
hired to rep. The line “Ridgeway”, which was a clock manufacturer out of
Ridgeway, Virginia. Now many people don’t know this, but Ridgeway was (and
still is) the manufacturer for all of Ethan Allen’s clocks. If you own an Ethan
Allen clock, you really own a Ridgeway. Over his first 5 years, he helped to
grow the Ridgeway name in Wisconsin by over 300%, but this presented a new
problem: Shipping. The company could not keep up with the orders Richard was
writing, so in 1975 Richard & Marjorie opened the first ever clock warehouse out
of their garage in Wausau, WI.
They took their life’s
savings and slowly stocked-up on everything Ridgeway made, and bought a cargo
van. If a furniture store in Milwaukee wanted 3 grandfather clocks, but they
couldn’t be shipped for 2 months, Richard would deliver them himself the very
next week. This worked very well, but the next problem they ran into was that
despite rising sales, Richard couldn’t convince any of his clients to open a
“Clock Showcase”, a separate store just for clocks. In 1977 Richard & Marjorie
decided that they would put their money where their mouth was, and stated making
plans for just such a showcase. They spent months looking for the right
location, and in spring of 1978 the signed a 1-year lease on a building in
Weston, WI.
When the store opened in
July of 1978, it boasted over 50 Grandfather & Grandmother clocks, and about 100
different wall & mantle clocks. It was a store like no other, and a proud
moment in the Dettmann’s history.
Weston was an area which
was pegged to be the next corridor of development, although this location would
turn out to be a mistake. Marge recalls “When we opened, there were us and
maybe 10 other businesses covering about 1 square mile. I would sit in the
store for hours looking at empty fields just waiting to hear a car coming down
the gravel road. I was so excited when a customer did come that they were
probably overwhelmed by my enthusiasm”. But customers did come. One at first,
then another, and then another. The business was growing, but the Dettmann’s
soon realized they needed a higher traffic location, so in 1979 they moved the
store to 120 Scott st. in the heart of Downtown Wausau, and business immediately
picked up. It was a wise move. Weston was a nice area, but it would take
another 15 years for it to develop. The downtown location got attention right
away, and the shop grew. The building was around 80 years old and had a leaky
roof, but it worked out fine for about 4 years, during which the store branched
off into many gift items to accent the clocks. By 1981 the Fine Clock Shop
carried a large line of music boxes and had a huge nautical brass section, but
things were about to change again. The rent on the building was going up, so
Richard & Marge started looking for a building to buy. In early 1982 they
bought the old Stolze printing building at 629 Jefferson st., which was a 100
year old historic building, but also needed 100 years worth of renovations.
After 3 months of planning, a 6 month renovation project began, and the building
was transformed into a beautiful retail store with 2 apartments overhead.
Careful attention was made to keep as much of the original charm as possible,
and upon completion the Dettmann’s received a certificate from the historical
society for recognition of their efforts. The new store opened in late 1982.
During their years at this location, the inventory doubled and by the 1990 there
was collection of genuine German beer steins, lead crystal, Hummel’s, Framed
prints, Statues, Greeting cards, Watches, Pewter, Chinese furniture and accent
pieces, stuffed animals, and a children’s toy line including real wooden doll
houses & furniture. But the thing that really caught the public’s attention was
the vast inventory of collector dolls. The largest collection in the state, you
could find everything from Madam Alexander to World doll, and with well over 300
dolls on display, People came from all over Wisconsin. There was also an entire
separate wing devoted to dinette & dining room sets, and by 1991 a large line of
curio cabinets was added. In the late 1980’s their son Dave opened a jewelry
store adjacent to the shop called Buried Treasure Jewelers which sold
fine jewelry at discount prices. The store was truly a sight to see.
Richard & Marge decided to
retire and move to Florida, so in 1994 they sold the business to their son Dave
who had been with them from the beginning. They also had 2 other sons, Daniel &
Matthew who both worked in the business for a time, but both had long since
moved on to different careers with Dan becoming a teacher in Milwaukee with the
Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS), and Matt becoming a Foley artist at
Sony Picture Studios in Culver City, California.
Dave & his wife Wendy ran
the store at that location until the summer of 1996 when they purchased a
building in the fast growing area of Wausau known as the Town of Rib Mountain,
so named for its famous ski hill. The current inventory was to vast to fit at
the new location, and many things that sold in the 1970’s & 80’s no longer had
any appeal, so they decided to hold an auction to reduce the unnecessary stock
and make the move easier. A team of auctioneers was brought in, but as it
turned out it took 3 separate auctions to sell everything that needed to be
sold. There was even a used appliance business that needed to be sold off.
Dave realized that the store had gotten away from its roots, so when Wendy &
Dave opened the new and final location at 5103 Lilac ave. in Rib Mountain, it
was mostly all clocks, although they still included watches, Dolls, Music boxes,
beer steins, statues & pewter figurines. Due to the growth of the area, they
hardly ever had to advertise again, and word of mouth kept customers coming
right up until their retirement in December of 2005. Dave says “Although the
store is now gone, the memory of all the wonderful people we met over those 28
years will never fade. We had the best customers in the world, and are thankful
to each of them. Thank you again everyone and may God bless you all.”
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