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KEARNEY — A longtime downtown business is saying goodbye with a retirement sale this weekend.

Franca’s Jewelry Manufacturing and Repair at 2019 Central Ave., owned by Franca Fullmer, closed in late July after nearly 40 years in business.

Wendy Spencer, owner of Sort My Stuff, will organize and host Franca’s Retirement Sale from noon to 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday as well as from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday at the Bison Room in the Extension Building at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds at 3607 N Ave.

Thousands of earrings in an array of colors and styles will be sold at the fairgrounds this weekend.

Buyers can select from thousands of pieces of gold, silver, turquoise, pearl, crystal, ivory and genuine diamonds, along with vintage necklaces, broaches, rings, earrings, hats, trinket boxes, jewelry stands, belts, purses and watches.

“There is lots of random decor, with very unique pieces,” Spencer said.

Fullmer is an accomplished goldsmith who started her jewelry business 50 years ago when she began buying jewelry at estate sales. She learned the intricacies of making and repairing jewelry and eventually opened her own business.

“I broke my back and decided it’s time to sell the store. Maybe that meant someone was giving me a kick in the fanny," Fullmer said.

Her husband Louie died two years ago. “My neighbor helped clear out 47 boxes of real jewelry. The sale will help get rid of the jewelry that I salvaged.” 

Franca Fullmer immigrated to the U.S. 60 years ago and has lived in Kearney for more than 50 years.

The store, which overflowed with unique pieces, reflected her colorful life. Born Franca Ploog in Italy, Franca's parents separated when she was five years old, so her mother took her on the train to begin a new life in Germany.

One day, Fullmer peered out of the window and saw the world blanketed in white. “I had heard people talk about snow, but I never knew what snow was," she said. “I was cold and shivering. I kept thinking I’d had a bad dream, but I pinched myself and the snow was still there.”

She came to the U.S. in 1962 with a family for whom she worked as a nanny and a housekeeper. They lived at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, and then they moved to Colorado Springs.

Later, she worked as a cook at the Shamrock Cafe in North Platte, “but I didn’t like North Platte. If you’re not a railroader or a trucker, you don’t fit in,” she said.

Ty Hoksbergen, nephew of Wendy Spencer, has been helping her sort and price Franca's jewelry for this weekend's big sale.

On weekends, she would drive to Wood River or Grand Island to search for a new job. On one of those trips, she stopped at Dairy Queen in Kearney, picked up a newspaper and saw an ad for a cook at a downtown cafe. She quickly applied and got the job. In 1970, she married Fullmer.

She began her business by buying jewelry at estate sales and learned as she progressed. Eventually, she bought the Central Avenue building and opened Franca’s Jewelry Manufacturing and Repair. She sold jewelry five days a week and did psychic readings there on Saturdays.

“I loved making jewelry. I‘m a goldsmith by profession. People still call me now about doing jewelry repair,” she said. “I had a pretty good reputation for being honest, fair and square.”

This summer, she closed the business and put her building up for sale. A Realtor hired Spencer to clear out Franca’s jewelry store in late July. Spencer has done this kind of work since late 2019, when she opened Sort My Stuff to organize belongings for people who were downsizing.

She had two weeks to clean out Fullmer's space. Two weeks ago, she held a sale to clear out the tools and machinery from the garage and the basement. Meanwhile, she separated the jewelry store merchandise and loaded it into trailers, with jewelry sale items in one trailer and miscellaneous items in another.

Wendy Spencer, owner of Sort My Stuff, looks over some of the jewelry that she will sell Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds. 

She moved most of the jewelry to her two-car garage and began the exhausting process of sorting it, pricing it and putting it into bins. “When I started, there was no room to move in my garage,” she said.

As she worked, she placed a tiny price tag on each piece. “I do all the pricing, but Franca had pricing on items, so I used that as a guideline,” Spencer said. Filled bins have been loaded into a trailer that will head to the fairgrounds this week.

Spencer will take this week off from her job as a warehouse manager at Anderson Brothers to handle Franca's Retirement Sale. It will take her three days to set up the three-day event. She has had a “tremendous amount of help” from others, she said.

“Doing work like this can be challenging. This has been a person’s livelihood and their life. Where do you start? It’s overwhelming, but what makes it easier is that I’m not emotionally attached to any of it,” she said.

Spencer, 39, noted she was just two years old when Fullmer opened Franca’s Jewelry. “This has been such a learning opportunity. I’m not a big jewelry person, and I’m learning a tremendous amount,” she said.

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Thousands of earrings in an array of colors and styles will be sold at the fairgrounds this weekend.

Franca Fullmer immigrated to the U.S. 60 years ago and has lived in Kearney for more than 50 years.

Ty Hoksbergen, nephew of Wendy Spencer, has been helping her sort and price Franca's jewelry for this weekend's big sale.

Wendy Spencer, owner of Sort My Stuff, looks over some of the jewelry that she will sell Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds. 

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