Headlines

Michigan Jewelry Store Begins Selling Groceries, Reopens as ‘Essential’ Business

‘I need to save my business, feed my kids, pay my mortgage.’

Published

5 years ago

May 28, 2020

INSTORE Staff

A jewelry store in Muskegon, MI, recently began selling groceries so that it could open as an “essential business” during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Krautheim & Swanson GemWorks unveiled its new grocery department in a May 23 Facebook post. The store faced criticism online for the approach, and the post was gone as of Tuesday evening, Mlive.com reports.

The news outlet quoted a Facebook comment from Karl Krautheim, one of the owners of the store: “Meijer, Sam’s, Target can sell jewelry because they sell groceries, why can’t I? I need to save my business, feed my kids, pay my mortgage.”

Cans of beans and soup were on offer, along with peanut butter.

The store posted signs asking customers to knock in order to enter, and to come in one party at a time.

The small grocery section may not be needed at this point, as retail restrictions were loosened as of Tuesday to allow shopping by appointment.

But Krautheim said the measure is intended to protect against any further statewide shutdown orders.

Read more at Mlive.com

INSTORE Staff

Since launching in 2002, INSTORE has won 89 international journalism awards for its publication and website. Contact INSTORE's editors at [email protected].

click to Comment(Comment)

Up Next

More Than a Third of Jewelers Surveyed Say They’re Challenged By the Prospect of Driving Traffic

Don't Miss

14 Ways Jewelers Celebrated Their First Day of Reopening

Wilkerson Testimonials

Cleaning House for a New Generation

At Komara Jewelers in Canfield, Ohio, Wilkerson handled all the aspects of its retirement sale just as owner Bob Komara’s children took over day-to-day operations of the business. They’d used other companies before, says Brianna Komara-Pridon, but they didn’t compare. “If we had used Wilkerson then, it would have been so much better.”