The 20th Century In Review - A gem of success

Customers line up outside Wimmer's Jewelry at 610 Main Ave. for a remodeling sale that followed a 1954 fire in the shop. Special to the Forum

A gem of a success

By Gerry Gilmour
The Forum

They say a diamond is forever.

That time-tested gemstone symbol of long-lasting love is also the symbol behind one of Fargo's longest-lasting businesses.

Since 1919, Wimmer's Jewelry has been as solid as a rock.

The family business - in the process of changing its name to Wimmer's Diamonds - has its roots in downtown Fargo and still operates a store there today.

It was first known as Fargo Jewelry Manufacturing Co., established by master jeweler Fred Wimmer.

F. Wimmer

Third-generation jewelers Randy and Brad Wimmer say their grandfather was especially gifted in the design and engraving of emblems.

"That was his forte," Randy Wimmer says. "He was a very good craftsman."

Apprentice to master

Fred Wimmer was born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1886. As a boy and young man he studied as a jewelry apprentice in Hungary. When King Franz Joseph built a new castle during Hungary's 1,000 Jubilee in 1896, the firm which Wimmer was serving was delegated to furnish the silver and gold flatware for the royal family, and to set with precious stones the ornate decorations of the castle's walls.

Wimmer later worked as a jeweler in shops in Budapest and Germany. In 1907, at the age of 21, he came to America and went to work for Tiffany's in New York. Five months after his arrival, childhood friend Gizella Klein - who grew up a block away from Wimmer - arrived in New York. They were married the day she arrived.

In 1910 they moved with their young son, Art, to Minneapolis, where Wimmer worked as an engraver and designer in a jewelry shop. They next moved to Owatanna, Minn., where Wimmer would work for Josten's Manufacturing - a ring and emblematic company that still exists today.

That experience encouraged him to set out on his own, and to set up a similar business in Fargo.

A North Dakota jewel

Fargo Jewelry Manufacturing Co. specialized in the creation of rings, pins, medals and fraternal emblems. It made class rings for schools throughout the Dakotas and western Minnesota.

The quest for water

(continued)

Also, to offset habitat losses from the construction of the two canals and an irrigation plot near Oakes, the project to date has acquired and developed more than 22,750 acres of wetlands located on 42 wildlife development areas spread throughout North Dakota.

Garrison has resulted in $68 million of fish and wildlife features, including the 33,500-acre Lonetree Wildlife Management Area in central North Dakota - in place of the Lonetree Reservoir, once a main water supply feature for Garrison that had to be discarded because of environmental concerns.

Despite those accommodations, Garrison Diversion remains the bane of environmentalists: Just last month environmental groups placed the project on an annual "Green Scissors" hit list. "This is a project that reformers love to hate," the director of Taxpayers for Common Sense said.

Garrison Diversion has the solid support of the state's political and business leaders, but the general public often has seemed indifferent about the project in recent years.

Dushinske and Murray believe public interest will pick up when another prolonged severe drought inevitably hits the region. Murray recalls that in 1936, during the Dust Bowl, the Red River didn't flow beyond Fargo for more than 130 days - at a time when Fargo-Moorhead's population was perhaps a third of its current size.

"To say we're not in a precarious situation with water in eastern North Dakota is not to recognize history," he says.

Dushinske, who last year was honored as "Mr. Water" for his years of advocacy of water development in North Dakota, believes Garrison Diversion will be completed, some day, out of necessity.

Workers from the Army Corps of Engineers carved a channel to detour the Missouri River. Forum File Photo

"The best thing that could happen is another drought," he says. "A two-, three- or four-year drought. Then they'd be backing it."

But Dushinske, who is almost 86, doesn't believe he'll live to see the day Garrison will deliver water to Devils Lake and the Red River Valley.

"No, no, no," he chuckles at the thought. "People a lot younger than me won't see it completed."

The business went retail in 1930, when Wimmer opened Wimmer's Jewelry shop over the Woolworth's store at 2 Broadway. The small shop featured diamonds, jewelry and merchandise such as silver, watches and hearing aids.

Fred Wimmer, seated, and his jewelers during the 1920's worked in a shop above Woolworth's on Broadway. Special to the Forum

A Forum article referred to the store's "diamonds of perfect quality," ranging from $15 to $1,000 in price. You could buy a 52-piece silver set for $19.95. A Scheaffer pen and pencil set for $1.95.

"Walk a Flight and Buy Right," was the company line on package-wrapping ribbons still kept today in the downtown store at Main Avenue and Broadway.

Behind the counter you'll find Randy

Wimmer. Brother Brad runs the store at West Acres.

All in the family

The Wimmer brothers say their gifted grandfather passed his jewelry talents on to his sons, Art and Andy.
Art Wimmer started working at the store when he was 12. He and his father in 1939 moved the business into a street-level shop at 610 Main Ave. During World War II, Art Wimmer served in the U.S. Navy, repairing periscopes and telescopes.

Andy, who was the father of Randy and Brad, during World War II worked as a tool and die maker for Douglas Aircraft in Santa Monica, Calif. He returned to Fargo and joined the family business in 1947.

WDAY Radio personalities join Andy, Fred, and Art Wimmer for the store's "Man on the Street" radio spot in 1949. Special to the Forum

Andy and Art ran the business after their father's death. After Art died in 1967, Andy and his wife, Florence Wimmer, became co-owners.

Andy was the youngest of four Wimmer children. Margaret and Rose were the sisters.

Rose Behselich, living in Detroit Lakes, Minn., today, worked in the shop while in high school and has fond memories of her father.
"He was very meticulous and very careful in everything he did," she says.
"When people would come to the counter he would take out a piece of paper and illustrate what he was going to do. He had his hands and he had his mind."

She says Brad and Randy are carrying on her father's tradition.

"Those boys represent what my dad was," she says. "They're carrying on."

Brad and Randy Wimmer say their grandfather, father, mother and uncle always stressed quality over sales volume. "We still take pride in the quality of the merchandise, whether it's our diamonds or jewelry," Randy Wimmer says.

The brothers each year go to Belgium, on Independent Jewelers Orginization buying group junkets, to personally inspect and buy diamonds for their stores.

They moved the downtown store to 602 Main Ave., its present location, in 1981. Built in 1878, the corner building until 1911 was home to Fargo's First National Bank.

The family briefly during the 1970s operated a store in the Valley North shopping center at Broadway and 32nd Avenue North.

In 1985, the family business bought the Keepsake Diamond store at West Acres, and created a second Wimmer's Jewelry store there.

In the heart of the city

The West Acres store is 1,400 square feet while the downtown store is 2,000 square feet.

"We thought at the outset that both would be major retail centers," Brad Wimmer says.

That hasn't been the case.

The reality is that Wimmer's does generate most of its traffic and revenue at the West Acres store. But that hasn't diminished the family's fondness for and commitment to downtown Fargo.

The sign that hangs over the downtown store is the same one the business has used since the 1930s. Meanwhile, a modern stylized "Wimmer's Diamonds," sign - featuring a blue gemstone - is being created for the West Acres store.

"The downtown store has served as a foundation for us and gives us our reputation as an established business," Randy Wimmer says. Uncle Art was a tireless champion of downtown Fargo, serving on the city's Urban Renewal Board. Randy Wimmer today serves on the Downtown Business Improvement District board of directors.

Still, the brothers concede that they may not always be able to keep a downtown store.

"As downtown has changed, we've tried to be aware," Randy Wimmer says.

He notes that Fargo's older generation - those who used to be regulars at the downtown store - more often today stop at the West Acres store, since they're out at the mall anyway, walking for exercise.

They might want something new. They might want something, which they bought years ago, fixed or reset in modern jewelry.

Wimmer's has two goldsmiths among its 20 employees. Randy and Brad Wimmer take pride in their well-trained, long-tenured staff. Nearly all are accredited through the American Gem Society and Institute of America courses.

"We're proud that we can make this a profession for them," Brad Wimmer says.

They're trained to recognize the cut and quality and twinkle of diamonds. Experience and intuition helps them spot the twinkle in the eye of young engaged couples searching for wedding band sets.

"That's probably a highlight for the staff, working with those couples," Brad Wimmer says. "We're starting to sell wedding sets to the sons and daughters of people we've sold to when we were just starting out."

A tradition of quality

The Wimmers say the positive qualities that brought their grandfather here in 1919 are still here today. You can operate a jewelry store in Fargo, North Dakota, without iron gates and drastic security measures required in some parts of the country.

"And the economy here is stable, which is good for us," Brad Wimmer says.

The family business thrives today in a competitive arena that includes stores operated by national chains.

A view of Wimmer's Jewelry shop at 610 Main Ave. in 1934. Special to the Forum

Wimmer's has responded to the changing market by doing what it does best: focusing on the customer. The new name reflects its focus on diamonds.

"We've seen a lot of competition come and go," Brad Wimmer says.

The brothers note that the business has survived numerous scares in the retail world: from the Depression and recessions to malls, chain stores and retail giants.
"There's always something looming out there," Randy Wimmer says. "We don't get stressed out about the competition. We take care of things here in our shops, and let business take care of itself."

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