Closing jewellery shop sets up treasure hunt for remaining goods

Perri and his wife Amy decided to bury the entirety of his remaining inventory across Michigan | Photo source Roman Kraft on Unsplash

Innovation
Retail
Closing jewellery shop sets up treasure hunt for remaining goods

Closing jewellery shop sets up treasure hunt for remaining goods

Retail

Leftover stock from an American jewellery store that closed during lockdown is being sold to those who purchase a ticket and can locate the buried items

Spotted: Johnny Perri, the owner of the J&M Jewelers in Washington, Michigan, decided to turn around the tragic closure of his shop, due to COVID-19, into something positive and creative.

Perri set up the hunt for a couple of reasons: the first, he said, was a result of being bored at home after his jewellery shop closed. After considering what to do with his remaining stock, he and his wife Amy decided to bury the entirety of his remaining inventory across the state, firstly as a practical way of getting rid of stock, and secondly to get outside and occupy themselves. “We had the time of our life burying things,” Perri told WXYZ. “It was just awesome.”

To enter the hunt, you must pay a $49 (€41.50) fee, after which you are sent a document full of clues and hints. The treasure on offer includes gold bars, engagement rings and old estate pieces, and in the first hunt, which began on 1st August in Oakland County, around $4,200 (€3,563) worth of treasure was on offer.

Although much of the buried treasure means something to Perri, he admits more seriously that the funds raised will help fund an “alternative retirement plan” for him and his wife, now that the shop has closed. Perri has also placed GPS trackers together with the buried treasure, in order to see when it has been found, and whoever does find it has the option to keep it or sell it back to Perri for the following hunt.

COVID-19 precautions are in place along the way, and the preservation of the land is ensured by the X on the site of the treasure, with Perri asking treasure-seekers to “please be respectful of property by not digging up the town.”

Lastly, Perri hopes that the concept will encourage people to get out and about and that it will give “people adventure is giving them something to believe in again, besides this COVID crap”.