A to Z Mineral Shop is a goldmine for rockhounds, collectors and the curious.
Dubbed “Connecticut’s portal to hidden worlds,” Nature’s Art Village is an eclectic dinosaur theme park with the type of throwback family fun that draws repeat guests and locals for everything from mini golf to a giant maze of trails, splash pad and shops.
Dinosaur Crossing is the park’s gateway with over 60 life-sized replicas, but a real gem is A to Z Mineral Shop, where Brandon Hawkey oversees an extensive inventory of minerals, fossils and related curio.
How massive is the selection?
“The last time we went to the big national gem show in Tucson, we filled two semi-trucks,” says Hawkey, who grew up in Montana and visited Nature’s Art Village as a kid. Now, he manages the shop, which is stocked with a library of minerals and fossil finds.
“I remember coming to the shop when we would visit our family here and watched it grow over the years,” he says, committed to continuing its presence among rockhounds and collectors as a destination worth the pilgrimage. “We try to keep it fresh and we’re always bringing in new things.”
 Photos: Larry St. Pierre Categories include minerals, crystals, rocks, gemstones, reiki necessities, fossils and a glow-in-the-dark room featuring rocks that contain fluorescent materials.
Hawkey is attached to some of his specimens, donning names to favorites. A triceratops goes by Gundy, and an Edmontosaurus (duck-billed dino) goes by Ducky. These are for sale, of course.
“Last summer, we sold a woolly mammoth femur, and a couple visiting from Hawaii bought bear claws,” says Hawkey.
Hawkey is a mineral guru, too. “I’m the rock guy,” he says. “I really have a passion for minerals.”
A natural resourceA to Z Mineral Shop naturally sparks curiosity and customers perusing the eclectic displays are full of questions. They’re genuinely interested in learning about what they see. Hawkey views himself as a teacher of sorts. “Sometimes, people will bring in minerals and want me to look at them and explain what they are,” he says.
Hawkey doesn’t have all the answers. But he’ll find out with some digging.
“It’s a journey to learn how minerals were formed — were they crushed deep into the earth, exposed to high temperatures?” he relates.
Hawkey’s own fascination with minerals and how they came to be inspires customers to explore more in the store.
“We have thousands of minerals that are tumbled, cut, polished, rough and raw,” says Hawkey. “Most collectors like them to look like they were just dug up from the ground.”
When Hawkey first started learning about the varieties, “I felt like I was drowning in rocks,” he admits. “I started learning about the different families, and that brings it all together.”
 A to Z Mineral Shop lines up an assortment of rose quartz pieces for customers. The retailer likes to organize some of its gems by color for an eye-catching shopping experience. Discovering new minerals and their origin is like a treasure hunt for Hawkey, and customers who join the hunt for information don’t leave empty handed. Display cases showcasing rare items lure in the curious. Rows of shelves along the walls are filled with minerals. “We try to keep everything fresh and colorful,” Hawkey says.
He groups together minerals by type to keep the vast inventory organized. “When people come in and see the beautiful specimens, they do the rounds — and some come with a list of what they are searching for,” says Hawkey.
A storage room holds additional rocks, minerals, crystals and fossils. “We want to be sure we have enough of everything,” Hawkey says.
“There might be a video going viral with a specific mineral and folks come by and say, ‘I saw this on social media — I’m looking for moldavite or some special type of quartz,’” he relates.
Customers can find minerals spanning the alphabet, A to Z, in the store. Hawkey aims to sort inventory in this manner, too.
Sometimes, color rules for presentation. “We try to group greens and blues together and lighter colors and pinks, and we change it up throughout the year,” Hawkey says. For example, the Valentine’s display featured rose quartz.
Bone to pickHow exactly does Hawkey acquire all these fossils and dinosaurs that look like they should be archived in a natural history museum? There’s also some education involved in this question he fields from customers.
Yes, some dinos are “wild” and come from paleontology sites. Specifically, Stan the tyrannosaurus hails from the Hell Creek Formation in the Dakotas and Wyoming, where famous paleontologist Jack Horner conducted epic digs.
“Our two past owners used to travel all over the world, and through the years we built a massive collection and inventory,” Hawkey says. During and after the pandemic, most purchasing is done in the states at national gem shows.
The dinosaur replicas for sale are mostly cast from originals, much like how dinosaurs are created for Hollywood, Hawkey explains. “The originals are 40 to 50 million years old and they weigh metric tons. These models of original bones are a fun, safe alternative and each bone is molded from the original. This way, skeletons can be purchased, and we can offer custom skeletons.”
A tricky aspect of overseeing extensive displays of minerals and relics like fossils is keeping the inventory free of dust, especially during the busy summer season.
“With all these stones and fossils in one space, you get a lot of dust from rocks,” Hawkey acknowledges. “We do our best to move big items around, dust the glass and shelves, and keep the minerals organized.”
Meanwhile, as customers explore A to Z Mineral Shop, Hawkey promotes other places to check out at Nature’s Art Village such as the neighboring antique shop, The Past. And Hawkey takes every opportunity to help guests make the most of their experience in the park.
Hawkey says, “I want everyone to have that childlike awe — that wow moment when they come into the shop.”
|
