Thompson's Clock Manor

Thompson’s Clock Manor is a clock- and watch-repair and sales house founded in Kansas City in 1929 by Ernest “Ernie” Thompson — whose wartime service repairing fleet timepieces aboard a Pacific Fleet vessel and post-war VA-approved watchmaking school anchor a 97-year metro horology lineage — now operating in Overland Park, Kansas under longtime employees-turned-owners Darren Klasse and Traci Smith. ¹²³

Description

Thompson’s Clock Manor repairs most types of clocks — including cuckoo clocks, key-wound anniversary clocks, chiming and striking wall and mantel clocks, antique clocks, and French antique clocks — with grandfather clocks as its specialty. The shop offers free estimates when a clock is brought into the store and provides in-home service calls on grandfather clocks, alongside a storefront selling clocks and watches.¹⁴

The business operates from 7339 W. 97th Street in Overland Park, Kansas, where it moved on November 1, 2010. Current hours are Monday–Friday 8:30 AM–5:00 PM and Saturday 9:00 AM–12:00 PM; the shop is reachable at (913) 649-1929.¹³ The phone number’s final four digits — 1929 — nod to the firm’s founding year.

Ownership and history

Thompson’s Clock Manor was founded in 1929 by Ernest “Ernie” Thompson, then just 15, working from his parents’ pantry on Holly Street on Kansas City, Missouri’s west side. After roughly two years apprenticing under German watchmaker August Stuhl, Ernie began repairing watches for $1.50 per job, using streetcars to deliver service to customers.²

During World War II, Thompson carried his repair work to sea, reportedly operating aboard the USS Dionysus — a Pacific Fleet repair vessel — where he is said to have fashioned a balance staff in his small shipboard repair office while at sea to maintain Admiral William “Bull” Halsey’s timepiece, among other naval wartime repairs.² After the war, Ernie founded Thompson’s School of Practical Watchmaking in the late 1940s, a VA-approved institution that trained disabled World War II veterans and discharged servicemembers in the watchmaking trade.²

Ownership has passed through the Thompson family and longtime staff: a second location opened on Wornall Road in 1979; in 1980 Ernest retired after 54 years and his youngest son, Walt Thompson, purchased the business. Walt relocated the shop to West 95th Street in Overland Park in 2001, then to the current 7339 W. 97th Street location in 2010. When Walt retired in 2019, longtime employees Darren Klasse and Traci Smith — who had been with the business since 1985 and 1984, respectively — became its owners.²

Links

• Official website: https://www.clockmanor.com/
• History: https://www.clockmanor.com/clock-history
• Contact: https://www.clockmanor.com/contact
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/thompson-clock-manor-overland-park

Sources

Disputes

None at this time.

Footnotes

1. Thompson’s Clock Manor — “Contact Us,” https://www.clockmanor.com/contact — asserts: street address 7339 W. 97th Street, Overland Park, KS 66212; phone (913) 649-1929; email clockmanorllc@gmail.com; hours Mon–Fri 8:30 AM–5:00 PM, Sat 9:00 AM–12:00 PM, Sun closed. ↩ ↩² ↩³

2. Thompson’s Clock Manor — “Our History,” https://www.clockmanor.com/clock-history — asserts: founded 1929 by Ernest “Ernie” Thompson (age 15) in his parents’ pantry on Holly Street, KCMO; apprenticed under German watchmaker August Stuhl; WWII repair service aboard the USS Dionysus, a Pacific Fleet repair vessel, including maintaining Admiral “Bull” Halsey’s timepiece; founded Thompson’s School of Practical Watchmaking (VA-approved) in the late 1940s for disabled WWII veterans; 1979 second location on Wornall Road; 1980 Ernest retired after 54 years and son Walt purchased the business; 2001 relocated to W. 95th Street, Overland Park; November 1, 2010 moved to 7339 W. 97th Street; 2019 Walt retired and longtime employees Darren Klasse (since 1985) and Traci Smith (since 1984) became owners. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

3. Yelp — Thompson Clock Manor, Overland Park (updated April 2026), https://www.yelp.com/biz/thompson-clock-manor-overland-park — asserts: address 7339 W 97th St, Overland Park, KS; current reviews (12 as of April 2026); ongoing operation; clock repair / antiques classification. ↩ ↩²

4. Thompson’s Clock Manor — “Clock Repair,” https://www.clockmanor.com/clock-repair — asserts: repairs cuckoo clocks, key-wound anniversary clocks, chiming/striking wall and mantel clocks, antique and French antique clocks; grandfather clocks a specialty; free in-store estimates; in-home service calls on grandfather clocks. ↩