FAMILY JEWELER NAMED TOP RETAILER OF THE YEAR
Featured in the Detroit News

Giving back to the community is as much a part of the Ahee family's business as selling jewelry. That legacy earned the Edmund T. Ahee Jewelry Co. honors as the 2001 Michigan Retailer of the Year.

The award, sponsored by the Michigan Retailers Association, recognizes three retailers who have enhanced the community through charitable and volunteer activities.

"As we kick off the season of giving, it's a fitting time to recognize the retailers who display the spirit of generosity year-round. The retailer of the year awards honor the best of the best" said Larry Meyer, chairman and CEO of the Michigan Retailers Association.

In addition to other charitable efforts, the Ahee Jewelry Co. has sponsored the Capuchin Souper Summer Celebration for the past 20 years.

The event, underwritten entirely by the Ahee Co., has raised some $3.5 million for the Capuchin Soup Kitchen in Detroit.

The business prides itself on the store's family atmosphere. Thirty-four showcases, a piano player and refreshments such as coffee and cider are a familiar scene at the 7,000 square-foot facility.

"I recently had a customer who was the third generation in his family to buy an engagement ring from us," said John Ahee, vice-president of the company.

Although Edmund Ahee passed away several years ago, his wife, sons and daughter have continued the family-run business, as well as Edmund Ahee's commitment to helping the community.

"As a teen-ager growing up in the depression era around the Mt. Elliot area, my father was inspired to help the poor," Ahee said.

That inspiration led him to the Capuchin Soup Kitchen, said F. Lloyd Theil, chairperson of development for the Capuchin Ministries.

"Mr. Ahee felt that he had many blessings and needed to do something for the less fortunate. He came up with the idea of the party, and from the beginning he wanted to make it special to thank the benefactors." Theil said.

The party has grown over the years and drew a crowd of some 8,000 to the Hillcrest Banquet Center in July. Funds raised from the events have provided more than 2 million hot meals, as well as clothing, furniture, housing, and counseling services for the underprivileged.

In addition to the Capuchins, the Edmund T. Ahee Jewelry Co. has also been involved in donating to causes such as channel 56, St. John's Hospital, various schools, the VanElslander Cancer Center, Toys for Tots and the Henry Ford Hospital "Shoot for A Cure" program. The store also donates hundreds of gifts of jewelry to charities in the Metro Detroit area every year.