Chalk one up for Dowagiac’s Summer in the City.
Elkhart, Ind., jeweler Patrick Hopman visited the festival with his grandchildren last summer “and it seemed like a fun place to be part of,” he said Wednesday. “Everyone has been helpful.”
Hopman also visited downtown as part of Elkhart downtown restoration efforts and came away impressed by what Dowagiac did in the early 1990s to move the state trunkline, replacing truck traffic and parallel parking with angle parking and a more pedestrian-friendly streetscape.
So Hopman, owner of Hopman Jewelers, signed a lease with Alan Fricke for 202 S. Front St., which most recently housed Markethouse Interiors, but many remember as I. Oppenheim — Maurice Oppenheim’s men’s clothing store.
Like his store at 100 N. Main St. in Elkhart, the Dowagiac store will be a full-service location, selling new and estate jewelry, buying and selling gold, silver and coins and offering some gift items and antiques.
The Elkhart store specializes in bridal business, and Hopman hopes to expand that here, too.
Hopman Jewelers started in 1961, growing out of a clock repair shop started by their father, Joseph.
Hopman started helping in the store he and his wife, Eileen, now own at 9 and “grew up in it. It was always there, part of what we did.” He bought out his father in 1980.
Store hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday; until 7 p.m. Thursday; and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday. The new store’s phone number is 782-0449.