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Shinola Watch Company To Open Chicago Store

UPDATE: The Shinola store opening has slipped to later this month, but should be open for last-minute Christmas shopping.

By John Dodge

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Timing is everything.

Just in time for holiday shopping and coinciding with the release of a new line of timepieces, Detroit-based watch company Shinola will be opening its first Chicago store next month.

For a few years now, fans of the hand-crafted watches have been able to purchase a limited selection of the timepieces from about a dozen retailers, such as Nordstrom and Bloomingdales.

The store at 1619 North Damen will offer a more complete line of its watches, bicycles, journals, pet accessories and leather goods.

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(Credit: Shinola)

Shinola has close connections to Chicago. Since its beginning in Detroit in 2011, the company has partnered with Bucktown's Horween Leather Co., which has supplied the leather for Shinola's watch straps and leather goods.

Shinola Supply: Field by Shinola on Vimeo

Shinola Supply: Field from Shinola on Vimeo.

Shinola-Chicago will also be selling unique home and office accessories from Field, which is based in Chicago and Washington, D.C., Shinola CEO Steve Bock said.

Shinola will offer their space for community events and local partners, which they do at their flagship store in Detroit.

"We'll do events that feature local makers and some that will benefit community projects like the 606," Bock said.

The 606 is a project using both private donations and public funds to transform the old Bloomingdale rail line into an elevated park, much like the highly acclaimed High Line park in New York City.

The centerpiece of the 606 will be the Bloomingdale Trail. In fact, workers began work on trail installation this week.

Shinola also sells three models of bicycles, classically styled and each handmade. Customers will also be able to purchase a variety of higher-priced backpacks, handbags and jackets, along with other one-of-a-kind items, from American flags to pencil sharpeners--and, yes, shoe polish.

Before it became a watch company, Shinola was known as a shoe polish, which was especially popular in World War I among the troops, who originated the phrase, "You don't know s--t from Shinola!"

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Shinola takes its "American Made" campaign very seriously, which is why it decided to open its manufacturing facility in the Argonaut building in Detroit.

All of the watches are assembled by hand there, although most of the watch parts are foreign, including the Swiss quartz movement.

Stylistically and technically, the watches have been widely praised. The watches wear well and have precise details that define quality. The prices (ranging from around $500 for the entry-level Runwell to just over $1,000 for some of the chronograph models) are on the high-end for a quartz movement watch. However, customers are getting a product created by American hands, with a limited lifetime warranty.

In tandem with the Chicago store's opening, Shinola will be unveiling its most expensive watch yet--the Black Blizzard titanium chronograph that will reportedly retail for $1,500. True to the company's American marketing theme, Shinola says the design was inspired by those Midwesterners who prevailed during the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

In addition to its Detroit store, Shinola also has locations in New York City, Minneapolis and soon in Los Angeles and London.

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