Manitou Jack’s, which has sold Native American jewelry for nearly 40 years in Manitou Springs, arguably has become as familiar to residents as the Manitou Incline, the city’s bubbling mineral springs or its quaint downtown.

“It’s an institution,” said Leslie Lewis, executive director of the Manitou Springs Chamber of Commerce and Visitors Bureau.

But Manitou Jack’s closed its doors Tuesday in Manitou Springs; a second location at Powers and Stetson Hills boulevards in Colorado Springs will remain open, co-owner Michael Carnel says.

Carnel, who with his wife, Dawn, has owned Manitou Jack’s since 1993, says their building at 814 Manitou Ave. in the heart of downtown Manitou – along with land and parking in back – became so valuable that he couldn’t turn down an offer to sell it.

“The value of the property has probably outrun what the business of the store can do,” Carnel said. “We got a good firm offer on it … and we decided to take it.”

El Paso County land records show Carnel sold the building for $652,500 in November – more than double what he paid in 1996. The brick building, which land records say was constructed in 1924, was once home to the Bank of Manitou, whose name still stands above the front door and is framed by decorative pink columns.

Carnel declined to identify the building’s new owner. Lewis also declined to identify the buyer, but said the building will continue to be used for retail.

In addition to the offer on the property, Carnel said he and his wife have branched out the last few years into real estate.

They developed a retail building northeast of Powers and Stetson where they’ll continue to run their other Manitou Jack’s store. That location also sells Native American jewelry, gifts and Southwest art, along with performing repairs, engraving and other services.

But the Carnels’ larger foray into real estate involves hotel development. They now own and operate a Holiday Inn Express in Silt, near Glenwood Springs, and recently opened a LaQuinta Inn & Suites in Durango, Carnel said.

At the same time, Carnel said he and his wife own or operate six hotels and are developing four more in New Mexico and Arizona. They also have launched a hotel management business – running hotels for themselves and others, Carnel said.

The financial success of Manitou Jack’s over the years helped them get into real estate, Carnel said. And “once you get started and you meet new people, you have more opportunities,” he said.

Manitou Jack’s was launched in the 1970s as Manitou Jack’s Trading Co. by Jack Wallace, a businessman who became known for contributions to the Manitou community that included restoring the town clock.

The Carnels were operating a wholesale jewelery manufacturing business in New Mexico when they bought Manitou Jack’s from Wallace, who was one of their customers. And as a customer, Wallace would “buy the most and pay the fastest” – an indication that Manitou Jack’s was doing well, Carnel said.

Over the years, Manitou Jack’s has attracted generations of customers, including some who’ve said their parents and grandparents were customers, Carnel said.

The couple opened and closed other locations, including one near The Citadel mall. They also were bruised and battered by economic ups and downs, the Waldo Canyon fire and downtown Manitou flooding, but still survived, he said.

Carnel said he likes to think Manitou Jack’s was more than just a store; it became a community friend. When somebody wanted to know the time of the town’s annual Emma Crawford Coffin Race & Parade or the location of parking for the Broadmoor Pikes Peak Cog Railway, they’d call Manitou Jack’s, Carnel said.

“They will be missed,” Lewis said. “They’ve been kind of an iconic business.”

Carnel said he wasn’t necessarily sad about closing; instead, he felt he and his wife accomplished something – and not everyone is so fortunate.

“A feeling of job well done,” he said. “It did work out for us … We came here, we wanted to be part of this and we were part of it and we did pretty well. And now it’s our time to move on and for someone else to do some good with it.”