William Crow Jewelers Closing After 95 Years In Denver

DENVER, CO — A family business is closing after 95 years in Denver. William Crow Jewelers, at 910 16th St, is beginning its going-out-of-business sale Friday and will close after all inventory is sold.

William Crow Jewelers opened in 1924 when William “Bill” Crow moved from Haxtun, a small farming community in eastern Colorado, to open a jewelry store in the heart of downtown Denver. Needing to expand his crew of watchmakers, Crow wrote to a watchmaking school in the Midwest and asked if they had a good candidate and promising watchmaker that would be willing to relocate to live and work in Denver. Lawrence Kaiser, who was also from a small farming community, was studying at the school and was intrigued by the idea of living in a bigger city.

Kaiser went to work at the store in 1947 as a watchmaker and eventually took ownership of the store in the late 1970s but kept the name William Crow because of its great reputation in the community. Kaiser also chose to keep it in the same place, on the third floor of the historic University Building downtown.

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Kaiser's son Jon eventually took over the family business, and still runs it today.

“I’m the youngest of six, so I was literally my dad’s last chance,” the younger Kaiser said jokingly.

Of all the happy memories in the store, he said his fondest was a customer who recently passed away.

“He purchased something for his wife every Christmas for over 50 years — it’s remarkable to be part of someone’s life like that,” said the younger Kaiser.

“What I’ll miss most about the store are the customers and the exciting challenge of each day,” he said. “All the staff wears a lot of different hats here, so every day is a different day.”

Kaiser said closing the family legacy store will be hard, but necessary.

“Most of the staff, like myself, are approaching retirement age, so this is an opportune time to close and end on a high note and I think we’re all ready to begin new chapters in our lives,” said Kaiser.

Customers will find an extensive array of discounted jewelry to purchase, Kaiser said.

“What has made the store successful over the years is the tradition of offering the finest quality merchandise paired with great value. We avoid over-priced, trendy jewelry,” Kaiser said. “We have unique pieces in a range of styles and prices, and we lean more toward the classic, timeless pieces. We offer pieces that will become heirlooms to delight future generations.”

As for retirement, he and his wife Alice plan to stay in the Denver area for now and enjoy the time they have.