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I recently sat down with It’s Time Clock Shop Owner Andrew Schmidt, known to everyone as Drew, to talk a little bit about
the history of the business and how it has grown and changed over the years and is now proud to be the only clock shop in Clarksville.Schmidt’s interest in timekeeping began when he was nine years old with his father who owned an antique shop in Wisconsin. Schmidt along his father spent a great deal of time in the shop involved in the restoration and preservation of clocks and watches.
Next for Schmidt was the University of Wisconsin at Green Bay where he pursued a degree in horology which is the art of making timepieces and measuring time. Schmidt’s degree also included an emphasis on cartography which is the study of mapmaking. After college Schmidt served 13 years in the Army and retired as a Major followed by his military career finishing up in the Army reserves.
Schmidt talked about his retirement in the Clarksville community and about the city. “Clarksville is a really cool community. One of the things I like about it is we’re a town of 130,000 people yet we operate like a small town. We know each other, we can’t go anywhere without knowing somebody,” Schmidt said.
Schmidt opened It’s time Clock Shop in 1992 and says there is a reason for the name. “The reason the business is called It’s Time is because I’ve always done this throughout my military career overnights and weekends and so when they offered up an early retirement it was time to make it legitimate,” Schmidt said.
The shop has been at its current location at 1804 Madison Street since it opened and is truly a family affair with his wife Christine, sons Andrew and Aaron and his mom LaVerne all helping to make the business a success.
As the business has grown there have been a number of additions to the products and services offered by the shop after it all began with sales and repair of clocks and watches along with engraving.
Schmidt highlighted what he called four of the main services that Clarksville needs and that It’s Time Clock Shop does very well. First there is in-home clock service where they will come to your home, make repairs to your grandfather clock and provide a one-year guarantee.
Next is jewelry sales and service with top of the line jewelry repair featuring a state-of-the-art welder. Something else unique at the shop is a monitoring service where you can actually watch your jewelry being repaired. “I’ve gotten into the jewelry world very, very heavy and I have a very large selection of jewelry. Everything from pearls, diamonds, you name it.” Schmidt said.
One of the special lines of jewelry you’ll find at It’s Time Clock Shop is the Jacqueline Kennedy collection. Schmidt said there was a company authorized to reproduce the jewelry of Kennedy during her time as First Lady in the White House and they are a dealer of the jewelry which is very popular.
Gold and silver is another aspect of the jewelry market at It’s Time Clock Shop. Schmidt said he has been dealing with precious metals since the early 1980’s and has been buying gold and silver at his shop for the past 19 years. Schmidt talked about the increasing popularity of buying and selling gold and silver over the past few years and asked customers as they shop around to make him their last stop.
There is one final aspect of engraving that Schmidt is proud of and his shop is the only place in Clarksville allowed to do it and that is engraving on firearms. “We do have a Federal Firearms License which makes us the only people that can engrave on firearms. If you are going to have your firearm engraved by law it has to come here,” said Schmidt. There are many people who have their firearms engraved or customized and Schmidt said we can do absolutely anything when it comes to engraving on a firearm.
Along with the gold and silver mentioned earlier, Schmidt touched on buying other items of value as part of a future pawn business. “In the past 30 days I have purchased a 26 foot bucket truck, a couple of pick-up trucks, jewelry, cap guns, I’ll buy anything but a baby,” Schmidt said calling it a cute little anecdote. Schmidt added it’s amazing what people have and they want to sell and they don’t know where to go with it.
Schmidt touched on grandfather clocks earlier in the interview when he talked about his in-home clock service but he wanted to share more about the popularity of the clocks. As more and more homes are built in Clarksville Schmidt talked about why he believes one of the last thing someone will buy for their home is a grandfather clock.“You’re busy buying the dining room table and chairs, you need the ottoman, you need the chairs, you need the La-Z-Boy but you don’t need the grandfather clock. The grandfather clock is the last dressing of the home that says you’ve made it,” Schmidt said. Schmidt added that with a grandfather clock it is a settled home and it’s that final decoration that a person will put in their home.
This of course is a good time to mention that It’s Time Clock Shop has a full line of grandfather clocks featuring many different styles and sizes. In fact Schmidt said this past Christmas he sold the most grandfather clocks than he has sold in the history of the store.
If you are not in the market for a grandfather clock there is an amazing selection of other clocks at the shop. You’ll find wall clocks, clocks for your mantle, Cukoo Cukoo clocks and even antique time pieces. When it comes to wrist watches, once again the selection is fantastic with everything from Rolex to Fossil. Schmidt adds if someone is looking for that unusual wrist watch there is a multitude of different time pieces to choose from.
With Valentine’s Day just around the corner this is a good time for everyone to be thinking about that special gift for that special someone and Schmidt had some advice. “If you can’t find or you can’t think of something to buy your special someone for a gift step in here I’ll have it. I can take it from a personal gift as far as a personal piece of jewelry to home décor and everything in between,” Schmidt said. Schmidt also said if he doesn’t have that special gift or item you’re looking for he can get it and emphasized he would not be undersold.
When it comes to showing his support for the community Schmidt feels it’s important to give back to the community and he found a perfect way to do that with the American Red Cross. Before the Red Cross moved into their new building at 1760 Madison Street, Schmidt had purchased the building and had carried out extensive renovations with plans to use it for his new pawn business.
Schmidt still owns the building but he knew the Red Cross was in need a new home after their old facility was destroyed in the 2010 flood. He wanted to show his support for the organization so they could continue their work in the community. He spoke about how the Red Cross had helped his family in a time of need while he was serving in the military and he just wanted to give back to the Red Cross.
Earlier I mentioned about the Schmidt family and getting back to the family oriented atmosphere of It’s Time Clock Shop
we have to mention the family pets. There are two Dachshunds and Sissy, a Chihuahua which Schmidt refers to with a smile as the “watch dog” at the shop. Schmidt said having the dogs in the store is a plus because he says there are people who will literally come to the store to see the dogs and kids love them. If you’re not convinced yet, here’s another great reason to stop by It’s Time Clock Shop. They have won the title of Best Engraving and Trophy Shop for the past nine years in a row in the March of Dimes Best of Clarksville.
Take some time in the near future and spend a little time at It’s Time Clock Shop at 1804 Madison Street. Their hours are 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. Call them at (931) 551-4547.
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