The Chinese philosopher Confucius once said, “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life.”
This quote holds true for World of Rocks owner Gail Kornbluth.
World of Rocks is a store that sells various kinds of rocks, minerals, crystals, fossils and beads, located at 42 N. Huron St. in downtown Ypsilanti. They are open on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 12 – 6 p.m., Saturday from 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Sunday from 1 – 5 p.m.
“Originally I was at Farmer’s Market in Ypsilanti and simultaneously I was one of the originators of the Artisan’s Market in Ann Arbor, and in those days I actually had plants too,” Kornbluth said.
She decided not to sell plants anymore, though.
“It just became overwhelming and I don’t have the room for plants.”
Kornbluth used this anecdote for why she started her business:
“The last craft mall that I was at, the person who ran it I didn’t think did a good job. So I decided, ‘You know what, I’m going to look for my own place.’ That was 12 years ago and I have been here ever since. I have made so many friends in 25 years of this business.”
Throughout the years, Kornbluth has traveled all over the world and has made many friends who help supply wares for her store.
“Things come from all over the world,” she said. “I do have distributors that will go to Morocco and do their buying and then it gets shipped and takes about three months, and eventually will get here.”
Kornbluth does not collect the rocks or minerals herself; she leaves that up to the distributors.
“The distributors are the people who are actually going to the places. I’ve been to several places where I sell stuff from.”
She can’t always go around the world collecting these objects, but throughout her travels, she has made friends who can send her supplies.
“Through the years I have made wonderful contacts,” she said.
Along with her store, Gail has an ecommerce website, www.worldofrocks.com, where she sells her products to
people all over the country.
“This past week I’ve got an order from Texas and one from Northern Michigan,” she said.
Using this website, she can attract customers from many different places.
“I get people from Canada, Missouri. Many people from different states besides Michigan have come to see this stuff.”
Not only does Gail run a store filled with many fine rock and mineral specimens, she teaches classes about wire-wrapping, macramé, chain, metal and a professional way to bead.
Classes are offered to both kids and adults.
“We have a thing called youth craft that is offered to a group of children usually on Sunday afternoons. We teach them basic wire wrapping and sea bead. At ages 12 and up, if they come with an adult, they can be in the adult classes.”
The cost of classes varies depending on the kind of type of class you wish to take. The cheapest starts at $20 including supplies.
“They get their beads and their wire and everything they need. The basic beading class bundle is $95. That’s for three class sessions at six hours, but they also get a DVD for if they want to go back and refresh. That’s a $35 DVD. They’ll get that plus all of the supplies.”
These classes take place almost every night.
“For April, we’re not offering Macramé until the summer; we have classes Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Tuesday is notoriously our day off, so we try not to do it then.”
“The most important thing is, in all the years I’ve had my business, I have made fabulous friends,” Kornbluth said.
“You don’t start out thinking that way, but I have made such fabulous, good friends. People I can actually call on if I needed something and just the pleasure of being surrounded by all the beautiful rocks all the time. I mean it’s my hobby too, so I love it. I have even been thinking about franchising my business, so if there’s anybody out there that’s interested, come and see me.”
So if you ever have ever seen a rock on the ground and kept it because it had a cool shape or because you liked the way the sun shined off of it, check out World of Rocks. You never know what you might dig up.
