www.SouthernMinn.com | Wednesday, March 30, 2022 | PAGE B10
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Lauren Kozelka becomes owner of century-old jewelry store By EMILY KAHNKE emily.kahnke@apgsomn.com
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or being a mere 28-years-old, Lauren Kozelka wears many hats. Some of her notable hats include: Owatonna Business Women President, CoFounder of Box Babes, mother of two young children and, most recently, business owner. Kozelka and her husband Kyle became official owners of Kottke Jewelers on Dec. 29, taking a leap on letting the 100-plus year old staple to downtown Owatonna become an even bigger, brighter part of their lives. “My dream became a reality when I signed the papers,” Kozelka said. “My dad always said the day I started here that I was Bill’s succession plan … He told me that in 2010, and here I am.” Becoming the owner of Kottke’s wasn’t initially in Kozelka’s vision plan for her future. When she first started, Kozelka needed a job to bring in some cash while she was still attending high school. “I only got the job because someone Bill [Kottke] knew recommended me,” Kozelka recalled. “Bill only hired someone by recommendation, and even then it took him a while to finally hire me.” Growing up on a farm, Kozelka recalled taking an interest in the whole farming operation, eventually attending college at South Dakota State for agricultural business. “I wanted to give back to the community I grew up in in the agriculture world,” Kozelka said. “That didn’t work out. I didn’t love it.”
HISTORY OF KOTTKE JEWELERS Founded in 1919 by Carl Kottke and John Jurgenson, three generations of Kottke family have been helping people celebrate life events with fine jewelry and engagement rings in Owatonna, making Kottke Jewelers a mainstay downtown. Carl Kottke bought out his partner in the late 1920s and the store remained solely in the Kottke Family until Matt Kottke sold the business to General Manager Lauren Kozelka.
Kozelka moved back home to Owatonna and attended Riverland Community College while continuing to work at Kottke’s. Rekindling her love for jewelry, fashion and business, Kazelka still felt she owed it to herself to earn a college degree.
In late December, Lauren Kozelka, along with her husband Kyle, became owners of Kottke Jewelers, the jewelry store that has been a fixture in downtown Owatonna for more than a century. They are committed to maintaining the Kottke legacy for the next 100 years. (Emily Kahnke/southernminn.com)
is a true passion for me that I never thought I’d discover. I have to thank Bill for introducing me to something I found a love for that I didn’t want to give up.”
Three generations of the Kottke family have owned and operated the store since first That’s when she enrolled opening in 1919, ending in college in Winona and with Matt Kottke selling completed her degree in the store to Kozelka. business administration Some in the community and human resource are wondering what new management. Living ownership, specifically in Wisconsin with ownership outside of the Kyle, Kozelka began family, will mean for the searching for jobs in that store. area. “We want to keep Eventually, the company the well-established Kyle was working for traditions alive at the offered him a transfer store,” Kozelka said. “The to Owatonna. The feel of walking into a pair jumped at the modernized 1919 store, opportunity right as well as the name, will away, and shortly after remain the same. We relocating back to her want the transition to be hometown in 2015, seamless for everyone, Kozelka was offered the and when people open store manager position the door, they’ll see we at Kottke Jewelers. are still here in the same capacity we always “At that moment, life have been and always really came full circle,” will be.” Kozelka said. “Jewelry
Ambassadors of the Owatonna Area Chamber of Commerce and Tourism visited Kottke Jewelers in January to welcome Lauren and Kyle Kozelka as the new owners of the store. (Emily Kahnke/southernminn.com)
Kozelka said the only change she would make to the way the store operates is eventually adding more of an e-commerce option where their full inventory would be available to shop on the store’s website. Being an active member of the community in various organizations,
and now as a business owner, Kozelka is elated by the opportunity to join the ranks of her fellow downtown business owners that she has grown close to over the years as manager of the store. “I’m proud of myself for accomplishing all that I have and only being 28 years old,” Kozelka said.
“I love being so closely tied with the other likeminded business women in the community, and I can’t wait to see what the future holds. This is truly just the beginning.” Reach Reporter Emily Kahnke at 507-4442376. ©Copyright 2022 APG Media of Southern Minnesota. All rights reserved.
