Krupp’s Novelty Shop

General information

Krupp’s Novelty Shop opened its doors for the first time in 1949 with the help of Carl and Jean Krupp. It was originally meant to be a grocery store which helped to feed their eight children. After the children were born though, the Krupp’s decided to take a different path with their dream of owning their own small business. With the help of a friendly birdbath salesman, they found that new path. They sold off the old grocery equipment and turned the leftover orange crates into something they could sell. They were cut with a jigsaw, painted, and displayed in the front yard. The family became an unstoppable assembly line in the concrete industry. As the kids began to move off with their own families, the store began to order their products from all over the country rather than make them themselves. “When you work with so many different companies, you get so much more diversity in your inventory,” says Jean Krupp, who can be seen still riding around the yard in a green golf cart even at the ripe old age of 92. Even with the death of Carl Krupp in 2004, the business continued to thrive. It is considered to be the largest concrete business in the state of Michigan, as it continues to expand each day as new orders come in.