Treasure City, the iconic Minnesota gift shop selling everything from arrowheads to alligator heads, is for sale.
After nearly 50 years, owner Robert R. Janski is ready to retire from the sprawling store on U.S. Hwy. 10 in Royalton, Minn., about 85 miles northwest of the Twin Cities.
Janski's store is a landmark on the main route between the Twin Cities and the Brainerd Lakes Area. For generations, travelers have stopped at Treasure City and walked out of its crowded aisles with items they probably never planned to buy when they walked in.
Costume jewelry and key chains. Fireworks and figurines. Ships and swords and stones.
And don't forget to check out the 200-pound "man-eating clam."
"We have stuff you won't find in most stores," Janski said Thursday. One of his favorite things about running the shop, he said, is seeing the reaction of first-time visitors.
"People will walk in the front door and they go, 'Oh, my God!' " he said.
Janski, a lifelong Royalton resident, was in the construction business when he bought the store on April Fools' Day in 1977. He wanted to buy a portion of the property for a building project and the owner said he had to buy the whole thing or nothing at all.
After running both the store and his construction business for a few years, he transitioned to full-time retailing. It's been a good fit for the personable Janski, known for surprising crying children in the store with a free gift.
"God has blessed me in this business," he said, but at age 79, it's time to retire. "My wife would have liked me to retire five years ago."
The store is listed at $450,000 for the building and property alone. The inventory of rubber snakes, Minnetonka moccasins, shot glasses and pirate skulls is valued at an additional $400,000.
Janski said he'll miss his regular customers, some of whom stop in many times a year. But even if the store sells, he'll probably be around for a while, to his wife's dismay.
The real estate agent, he said, told him that a buyer would probably want Janski to stick around for a year or so to teach him or her the business.
