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Be Your Own Boss Bowl Grand Prize Winner Brian Linton's Sand Shack jewelry line inspires the creation of a store in Iowa City to sell it

For co-owner Rodney Lewis, his new Iowa City jewelry store gives him a feeling of home. Sand Shack, which opened Dec. 1 at 213 E. Burlington St., offers handmade Cape Cod-style jewelry. "It's pretty nice stuff here, not too expensive," said Lewis, 32, who is from Nantucket Island in Massachusetts. While other jewelry stores use the same materials, these pieces are more like Cape Cod-style jewelry, he said. Jewelry pieces in the store include shells, pearls, stone and large seed beads.

Sand Shack is a national company started by Lewis' friend, Brian Linton, on Cape Cod, he said. "I thought people would be very interested in wearing his jewelry out here," said Lewis, who is joined in the new venture by co-owner Kym Stevenson. "I think the ladies here will like something different." The pieces can be worn in both winter and summer even though the store has a beach-type feel, he said. "It's different -- it's very unique jewelry," Lewis said.

The company is dedicated to the preservation of oceans and beaches, so 5 percent of proceeds from the store will go to ocean conservation, he said. An additional 5 percent will go to the Bethel A.M.E. Church Building Campaign to expand the historic church at 411 S. Governor St., where Lewis is a member, he said.

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