The year was 1936 when Frank W. Fulkerson Sr., his wife, Viola, their three-year-old son, Frank Jr., and her parents, Thomas and Nellie Parker, relocated to Toledo from Canton, Ohio. Frank Fulkerson Sr. and Thomas Parker were both family-trained watchmakers and jewelry artisans who operated businesses out of their homes and who taught young Frank Jr. the trade from the age of just ten-years-old.
Frank Jr. joined the Air Force at the age of seventeen, working as an instrument repairman and aircraft mechanic. He achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant and served for three year in the Western and Southeastern United States. After being honorably discharged, Frank Jr. returned home to Toledo and opened “The Clock Shop” in 1954. The original store was located on the corner of Collingwood and West Delaware Avenues. In January of 1962, Frank Jr. and his wife, Susie, moved the store to 4141 Monroe St., where it still is today.
During the 1970s, Frank and Susie continued the proud family tradition of craftsmanship and artisanry by introducing their three young boys to the business, Tom, Tim, and Franz. As the clock industry began to shift in the early 1980s, the store moved more into jewelry and was renamed Fulkerson Jewelers and Clock Shop. Through the 1980s and 1990s, they focused on meeting the jewelry needs of the area by providing fast, high quality service, doing many repairs “while you wait” or same day.
Today, Frank Jr. and Susie Fulkerson have semi-retired, but continue to work on a part-time basis. Their son Franz has taken over the day-to-day operations of the business, and their son Tom works as a master jeweler. Now approaching their 60th year and with an updated look to the building, they continue to provide fast, affordable service with the highest quality of craftsmanship. Fulkerson Jewelers and Clock Shop specializes in the service and sales of fine jewelry, costume jewelry, watches, clocks, music boxes, and now, with the latest technology in laser welding, eyeglass frames and other intricate metal parts.