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When you step into our store, you enter a jewelry business dating back 127 years with service by the Miller family now 3 generations deep. We are the third oldest, continuously operating jewelry store in the State of Minnesota.
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1888
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The City of Annandale was Incorporated.
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1892
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Joseph Pratt opened a jewelry shop on Main Street. Later that year, William Krohn purchased the business from Pratt and operated the store for the next 22 years.
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1914
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William Krohn sold the shop to T. Thompson of Buffalo. He operated the business for just a short time before selling it again.
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1915
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On June 10, 1915, Albin Q. Lundman became the new owner. It was about this time that a 4,000 lb. safe was placed in the store. Over 100 years later, it still stands in the exact same place.
During the 34 years Lundman operated his shop, countless clocks and watches were serviced and sold, along with jewelry, silverware, glassware and other novelties. For a period of years Lundman also sold pianos and phonographs. When you’re in the store, you’ll see Lundman’s name on the clock hanging behind our bench.
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1949
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Lundman sold the shop to Leo B. Miller, then of St. Cloud. Lee, as he was known, had returned wounded from World War II and graduated from the Elgin Watchmaker’s School in Elgin, Illinois where he gained experience as a watchmaker and jeweler. He renamed the business Miller’s Jewelry and operated the business with his wife Doris for 29 years.
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1974
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Lee’s son Mark completed Watch and Clock Making School at St. Paul Technical College and began serving an apprenticeship at Elmquist Jewelers in Wilmar. He then joined his father in the family business.
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1978
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Mark carried on the tradition when he purchased the business with his wife Laurel in 1978. Together they operated and expanded the business for the next 32 years.
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1996
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The store doubled in size with the purchase of the adjacent building, Village Fix It. Mark and Laurel extensively remodeled as that time, and a few years later completed the new, much wider, storefront exterior as it appears today.
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2002
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Mark’s son Jim joined the family business, after receiving a Bachelor’s Degree in Business/Management from Hamline University in St. Paul, along with Bench Jewelry and Gemology Certification from Minneapolis Community & Technical College and Clock Repair Certification from St. Paul Technical College.
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2011
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Ownership of Miller’s Jewelry changed hands for just the third time to Mark’s son Jim, and his wife Amy. A remodel of the existing store unearths the original floors of the 1892 building.
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2019
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Miller’s celebrated 70 years of operation by the Miller family and the 127-year history of the business itself. We are one of the oldest, continuously operating jewelry stores in the state of Minnesota. Friendly service, exceptional products and quality repair remain the foundation of our business.
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2020
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A full road reconstruction was completed on Annandale’s Main Street during the summer of 2020. All of the canopies along Oak Avenue were removed, sidewalks were replaced and widened, creating a safer and more accessible downtown. In 2021, we will continue with our own exterior updates, installing new siding, a metal awning, signage and lights.
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