Downtown Sycamore staple The Clock Shoppe has final sale after owner’s death

SYCAMORE – Clocks, Ugears models and a smorgasbord of other items at downtown Sycamore’s The Clock Shoppe are up for grabs for the last time in an estate sale this weekend.

Sycamore resident and longtime Clock Shoppe owner James “Jim” Harry Niewold, 79, died Oct. 2. His estate, including a large collection of clocks, cardboard models and clothes, will be up for sale for a final day from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday.

Heirloom Estate Sales of Northern Illinois has hosted consumers inside the Clock Shoppe, 330 W. State St., since Thursday.

Inside the shop, dozens of clocks from brands such as Seiko, Seth Thomas, Howard Miller and Bulova are for sale, and as of Friday morning, they were all 40% off their tagged price. Niewold’s large selection of Ugears, cardboard contraptions of various designs and sizes, also are being sold at the same discount rate.

Niewold, a U.S. Air Force veteran, operated The Clock Shoppe for 47 years. He often would boast about his eclectic selection by saying the shop sold the largest collection of clocks in DeKalb County, according to his obituary. He “loved so dearly” Sycamore, his obituary reads, and considered himself a “longtime tinkerer” and town historian.

Loved ones remembered Niewold as “well read, intelligent, funny, had a curious mind, loved kids, was a good man, and a man dedicated to routine,” according to his obituary.