There are many ways of telling time, Hans Meier says, and he should know. Meier's House of Clocks has been ticking, cuckooing and chiming away time for nearly 50 years.
Meier's House of Clocks began in 1955 at 6th Avenue and K Street. First there was wholesale only and the trade shows in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Portland, Seattle and Spokane. With the car loaded to the limit; carrying cuckoo clocks, beer steins, mantel clocks, nutcrackers, carvings, music boxes and various other merchandise; the Meiers set out two times during the year to these shows.
They got into retail sales in 1960. The retail sales grew and in 1965 the Meiers were asked to be in the Tacoma Mall when it opened.
They moved into the mall with the floors unfinished, and doors that were not installed. In 1967, Meier's House of Clocks was asked to come to the Southcenter Mall.
In 1969, the Meier's quit doing to wholesale shows around the country. There were too many other things locally that required their time and attention.
It was a job in itself just keeping the 2 stores supplied with merchandise. There were cuckoos musical and plain from Hans Meiers native Switzerland as well as the Black Forest in Germany. There were grandfather clocks from the United States and Europe that played melodies every 15 minutes and struck the hour. There were mantel clocks that chimed melodies every 15 minutes and struck the hour like the Grandfathers; some mantels with a single melody, usually Westminster, and some triple chime. Some mantel clocks that had a bell strike on the hour and the half hour. There were hand painted wooden musical clocks and Hummels and crystal pieces from Germany as well as the delight of children of all ages, the display consisting of three girls and one boy turning around kissing all the girls as he turned on the platform. There were animated animals, cats, dogs, donkeys, and a Hurdy Gurdy from Barcelona, Spain.
There were capodimonte flowers and baskets of flowers; Murano glass birds and dishes from Italy. Carvings of many kinds of animals and music boxes of all sizes from Switzerland.
Much of what was carried in merchandise at the mall is now in the current location at 2712 Sixth Avenue in Tacoma. Meier's House of Clocks moved to the smaller location after leaving both the Tacoma Mall and Southcenter Mall in 1994.
There are many musical clocks that have 6 or more tunes that alternate on the hour, sand timer hourglasses from 3 minutes to one hour and whimsical alarms clocks that have been added to the inventory of clocks.
If you are looking for something that you can not find, let us know, and if it is available, we will find it for you. We do special order items whether it be a grandfather clock that is not in our collection on the floor or a piece of capodimonte (means top of the mountain) or crystal or whatever you desire.
Repairing clocks is also a part of our business, we repair almost any type or style of clock from antique almost 200 years old to modern battery clocks. We do make house calls for grandfather clocks, although we do charge for house calls and estimates.
Thank you for your interest in our site. Please browse through and enjoy.
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