Logansport jeweler marks 25th anniversary of family business

LOGANSPORT, Ind. (AP) - More than three decades ago, in a jewelry shop in Lebanon, Bill Minglin met his future wife, Angie, at the jewelry store where they both worked.

What goes around, comes around. Now, the couple runs a thriving Logansport jewelry business of their own that's celebrating its 25th year, and their son is engaged to a woman who worked at Minglin Jewelers, too.

They sat in the shop's workroom recently to talk about their 25 years owning and operating a small business in Logansport together.

"Every day is different ... every person that walks in has a different story," Angie said. What originally made her fall in love with the business, she said, was the pleasure of helping customers find the piece of jewelry that exactly fits what they're looking for, sometimes even when they can't quite describe what it is they want.

She'd originally started work in sales at a jewelry store as something to do while she finished high school. She never thought she'd stick with it, originally, but "there's something about it," she said.

Bill, a Logansport native, had worked as a repair expert at a variety of jewelry stores before taking the job in Lebanon. As part of the deal, he got the apartment up above the store. That was also the couple's first residence together, and where their son, Brandon, was born.

They moved to Logansport when the baby was 2 months old. For Bill, it was coming back home. Angie, however, wasn't familiar with the area.

"It was tough to first come to Logansport, because I didn't know anybody," Angie said. She got involved in a local sorority and found a welcome there that still resonates with her today - she describes it as "the small town feel," where people she met through volunteering would recognize her in the grocery store aisles.

Meanwhile, Bill continued working on jewelry and watch repairs, spending more than three years working from home while their children were young.

Both praised Logansport as a good place to raise children. "That's what brought me back," Bill said, and why they stayed here to raise Brandon and their daughter, Kristen, born a few years later.

Eventually, though, Bill wanted to do more than just fix jewelry for other regional shops.

"He said, I think we should start our own jewelry store. I said, I think you're crazy," Angie recalled, chuckling. But she warmed to the idea, and they incorporated Minglin Jewelers as a small business Feb. 8, 1993. Bill continued working from home for a while until their children were both out of diapers.

Then in early 1997, they opened Minglin's Jewelry & Time in a small Sixth Street storefront, according to Pharos-Tribune archives. Although repairs still made up the bulk of their business, they started building a retail inventory at that point. A little over a year later, on Aug. 24, 1998, they opened in their current location at 604 E. Broadway, a move that doubled the size of their retail space.

"You could talk in here and your voice would just echo," Angie recalled. Their small selection of merchandise, at the time, barely filled a display table placed in the center of the room.

These days, display cases line the walls and are spaced throughout the middle, too, filled with unique pieces that Angie and Bill pride themselves on having chosen. They've recently hired Jo Britt and are training their son Brandon, too, in the intricacies of the business.

"In general, the very fact that an entrepreneur is able to continue to thrive for that length of time is impressive," downtown business advocate Becki Harris said. She's director of Logan's Landing, a nonprofit dedicated to promoting and revitalizing the downtown district.

"We're thrilled that we have Minglin's as well as other longtime businesses in the downtown district," she added. The district's multiple jewelry shops are among more than 50 locally owned establishments downtown, according to records she provided.

"That is certainly what downtown districts are kind of known for, the entrepreneurial businesses as opposed to national chains," Harris said.

For the next few years, the couple plans to keep growing their business and pass some of the responsibilities to their staff. They hope, at some point, to be able to leave the business behind for a vacation, entrusting daily operations to others.

But right now, Bill can still be seen each day making painstaking repairs at his workbench, set right in front of a large picture window opening to the retail area.

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Source: (Logansport) Pharos-Tribune

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Information from: Pharos-Tribune, http://www.pharostribune.com