Issue date: 10/27/06 Section: City

By Gemma Baltazar
Contributing Writer

Anyone who happens to walk into Dave's Down to Earth Rock Shop will most likely not come out for a while.

From dinosaurs and fossils to Native American artwork and jewelry, almost every inch of the space is covered with interesting things to look at.

The shop, 704 Main St., is the brainchild of store owner David Douglass. What began as a small collection of fossils eventually turned into a business that he now runs with his wife, Sandy.

"I started collecting fossils when I was 8 years old," said Douglass, who recalls visiting the Field Museum every week as a kid and having scientists study what he was finding.

Douglass began attending Northwestern in 1970 and took a few geology courses but later realized that geology and school were not what he wanted to do.

"I opened a rock shop in 1970," he said. "And because I was running the shop I had to cut down my course load. I went for a couple years but never finished."

Douglass is more driven by his passion for collecting fossils than the need for a source of income. He said he opened the rock shop so he could finance his travels and continue collecting rocks.

"What I enjoy the most is going out and digging up stuff and traveling to different places," Douglass said. "That's what the shop has enabled my wife and I to do."

The husband-and-wife duo often travel the globe to get the merchandise for the shop, where items fall within a wide price range.

"We have a 60-million-year-old crocodile for sale," Douglass said. The crocodile's price is $3,500. "But we have fossil shark teeth that are also 60 million years old that are 50 cents."

In addition to offering reasonable prices, the store prides itself on selling high-quality objects.

"Everything that we have - even our less expensive items for kids or beginning collectors - are perfect specimens," Douglass said. "I'd rather sell something that's perfect and complete for $5 than get something for $1 that's just a piece of something."

Continued...

Page 1 of 2 next >

Article Tools