Urban Heirlooms

Urban Heirlooms, located in the former Family Pharmacy building at 633 Main Street, opened in March. In the spacious, bright interior of the store, owner April Ewing tastefully displays an eclectic mix of unique pieces. Before coming to Jewell, she had a shop in Boone for five years. “I tried to get into a place in Jewell for a year,” she said, adding that she also has a store in the North Grand Mall in Ames and formerly had a booth at the antique mall in Story City.

What’s Ewing’s theory on why vintage is popular currently? “Vintage is cool. It’s also recycling,” she answered. “I think we have to thank TV shows and magazines for its popularity right now.” Vintage pieces are getting harder to find, she noted, adding that she finds her pieces wherever she can, including sales and estate auctions. Occasionally she cleans out a house for someone moving to a nursing home.

Ewing, who lives in Randall with her husband, is happy to be part of downtown Jewell. “Other businesses on this block have been amazing and welcoming,” she said. “And the community has stopped by the say hello.

— Daily Freeman-Journal photos by Billie Shelton
The Monkey Puzzle Mercantile, is operated by Hagen Watts and his family. The shop, at 632 Main St., Jewell, joins five other vintage shops on Main Street to make the town a popular destination for shoppers.

“I enjoy how the other (vintage) businesses work together. There’s no competing with each other,” she went on. “Everyone has something different, and we’re supportive of each other.”

Ewing also praised JADE (Jewell Area Development Enterprise) for their assistance with getting her new business up and going. “JADE is amazing,” she said. “Other Chambers of Commerce should model after them.”

Customers to Urban Heirlooms come from the local area as well as out of town, according to Ewing, with most buyers at her store women in their 20s to mid-40s. “I sell to teenagers all the way up to Baby Boomers, even college students,” she stated. Ewing will custom paint and finish furniture pieces.

Monkey Puzzle Mercantile

Across the street from Urban Heirlooms, customers at The Monkey Puzzle Mercantile see much the same age range of customers. The business, open since April, is located in an historic Jewell building that most recently housed a photography studio.

Hagen Watts is part of what he calls the multi-generational family business that features a wide variety of collectibles, furniture, decorative arts, and antiques. When his mother and sister were out searching for collectibles, they saw that the Jewell building was for sale and decided to open The Monkey Puzzle. Although Watts says they have previously sold antiques and collectibles online, this is their first brick-and-mortar store.

The building also has space to house the family. Watts relocated from Lake of the Ozarks, Missouri.

Just as Ewing said that each of the Jewell shops has something different, Watts claims that his is “more than a vintage store. We have original finds, antiques, things from all over the world.

“There are things here from South Carolina, Maine and Florida, a from all over,” he claimed. The variety is obvious with a look around the store Ha shows items as varied as an oriental chest, vintage toys, a dial telephone, Imari porcelain china, and a kitchen cupboard. For most of the stock, Watts can remember where it was found–in someone’s barn, perhaps, or in a long-time small-town bakery that went out of business and no longer needed a five-foot long wood dough bowl.

“We’re pickers,” Watts noted. “We like stuff that has a story, original history.”

Watts, too, had nothing but praise for JADE and their efforts to assist them with establishing another Main Street business. “They have helped us out with all kinds of things. Both JADE and the community have bent over backward.”

The Watts family bought the building from JADE.

The Jewell shops are open Fridays 12-5 p.m., Saturdays 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and Sundays 12-4 p.m. Watts plans to add Thursday evenings this summer.