Many family-owned jewelry stores have a long and storied history—but few have one that stretches as far as the Schowalters, owners of Miner’s Den in suburban Detroit.
Miner’s Den was founded in 1971 in Royal Oak, Mich., which is about 14 miles north of Detroit. The Schowalters are celebrating the store’s 50th anniversary this year, but their path to this point started in the California gold rush of the mid 1800s, took them up to the Alaskan wilderness, and back home to Michigan, where they now have a 4,000-square-foot retail showroom.
Mike Schowalter is the second-generation co-owner of Miner’s Den, and he says the past 50 years have been an evolution from a literal rock-hound supply store to the jewelry business it is today. The store celebrated its half century in business recently with a party and customer-appreciation sale, Schowalter says, happy to have had five decades doing what they love.
“My father and I started the business. He was just out of college and the Navy with a geology degree,” Schowalter says. “Only it was the 1970s, and we were in the gas wars. No one needed an oil geologist.”
The family’s story starts with his great uncle, Will Walker, Schowalter says. The family called him Uncle Will, and he mined for gold in California in the early 1900s with basic mining supplies and an old mule named Bluebell, Schowalter says. That mining bug bit the whole family, and Schowalter says his father, Frank, was no exception.
His dad traveled for a while, ending up on Douglas “Wrong Way” Corrigan’s flight to Fairbanks, Alaska, after signing up to work for the American Smelting and Refining Co. His dad worked on the dredges that sought out gold ore, living paycheck to paycheck while dreaming of what he’d do when he got home.
“At one point, he got the [gold] fever himself and established a claim up there. He never made any money and never found anything. But that’s OK if you’re young and in your 20s, enjoying the thrill of it,” Schowalter says.
What ended up happening was his dad settled down, had a family, and started taking his kids on camping adventures around Michigan. They were true rock hounds at heart, and they started a business for their fellow miners—that’s where the unusual name for a jewelry store comes from, Schowalter says.
“We sold rock picks and all of the requirements that went with rock hunting,” Schowalter says. “We opened up our store to supply the gem cutters and the rock hounds that dabbled at home with their stone-polishing equipment and tumblers.”
As the business grew, they started making jewelry for some of their customers, and the store hired a few more jewelers as time went on. Soon enough, the whole family was working in the store, and jewelry started to take over the rock-hunting supplies. Today, Miner’s Den has more than 25 employees, Schowalter says, including himself, his sister Barb and his brother Tom, who are all partners in the business.
The store is still filled with rocks and other specimens from those early days, Schowalter says, and the family is proud of its heritage. Most of their adventures for rocks and gems take place at jewelry shows, but the fun of exploring and finding new treasures never ends.
“Every time I’m on a beach, I’m always eyes down, searching for any rock formation,” Schowalter says. “We’re all collectors at heart.”
Top: The Schowalter family (from left: Mike, Barb, and Tom) is celebrating the 50th anniversary of Miner’s Den, their Midwestern jewelry store with roots in California, Alaska, and Michigan (photos courtesy of Miner’s Den).
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