County Seat Newspaper
of Clare County

Familiar faces open new MI Rock Stop Store

Posted

Clare – Saturday marked the opening on a new store downtown Clare, MI Rock Stop Gifts & More, LLC. Within one month of signing the lease for the building, the owners, Liz Crafton and Damn DuBois have set the store up into a rock paradise with mini renovations, updates, and art pieces. You’ll recognize Crafton and DuBois from the Clare Area Chamber of Commerce where they both are employed. For only taking one month to set up the store, it turned out to be amazing. The clean and simple design and layout of the store makes it easy to look at everything the store has to offer.

The mastermind behind the store idea is Damon DuBois where he got the idea with the help of Liz Crafton based off of the idea that you do not have to travel to the UP to find cool and unique rocks. Crafton was inspired with this idea for the store after visiting the UP with her family and not having a great experience. She collaborated with Dubois to bring rocks to Clare.

In the middle of the store, there is a square display panel that showcases unique rocks, even ones that glow in the dark and some that are beyond colorful. There is something for everyone in the store from rock jewelry, rock candy, and information about history and well-known people from Clare.

There is a rock wishing well towards the back of the store where you are encouraged to bring your own rock and toss it into the well along with your wish. Once the well is filled, DuBois said that they plan to cover the wooden well with the rocks for a unique look to match the theme of the store.

In the back of the store, there are rock digging rooms; two rooms with multiple bins on the ground in each room that are designed for you to dig rocks yourself! There are tools in each room to do so along with spray bottles to clean the rocks. Along one of the walls in the main area of the store, there are buckets of rocks to buy if you don’t feel like digging through the bins in the back, and can instead take them home to dig through.

On the walls of the store, there are a handful of pictures hung up of well-known people from Clare with descriptions about them. A few of these people were Matt Moore, Jeffery Allen Chadwick, Roger Depue, Deborah Stabenow, and Patricia Kay White. On top of these pieces, there is also a display at the front of the store that is dedicated to Spikehorn with a giant rabbit to take pictures by.

If you have any free time, I highly recommend taking some time to go visit the new MI Rock Stop and support local business. Crafton and DuBois have put a lot of work into this store and it definitely shows.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here