Months after graduating college with a degree in geology, an older friend asked Brett Weiler if he could do absolutely anything in the world, what would it be? Brett answered, "Work with gems." The friend set him up with a job at a small jewelry store, and 30 years later, Brett is still at it - working with gems. He opened Decatur City Jewelers in 1994, and he decided right off that he didn't want it to look like a typical jewelry store. Upon entering the downtown establishment, you would be forgiven if you mistook the Brazilian cherry wood floored, exposed brick store for an art gallery, a New York City loft, a Midwestern hunter's lodge, or a combination of the three. In 2002, Instore Magazine, a trade journal for owners of jewelry stores, chose Decatur City Jewelry for its very first Coolest Store in America Award. The diamond engagement rings, turquoise and silver necklaces, gold studs, and the rest of the beautiful fine pieces of jewelry in the four glass cases on the outer perimeter of the room seem almost an afterthought.