Grandfather clocks become almost like family, said Paul Hoffman.

"It's kind of a living thing," said Hoffman, manager of the clock division for Howard Miller clock company, which has owned the Ridgeway Clock Co. in Ridgeway, Va., since 2004.

But Hoffman acknowledged that sales of the towering, chiming timepieces are "flat, at best."

Like Sharon Gatewood, manager of the Henebry's Jewelers store at Tanglewood Mall, Hoffman said many young adults with $1,000 or more to spend would rather buy a flat-screen TV or other electronic gizmo.

But it's tough to pass down a flat-screen TV to your kids as an heirloom, said Hoffman.

He hopes the baby boom generation will boost sales of grandfather clocks as boomers retire and think about what they will leave their children. And a chiming clock can be a comforting sound, he said, in a quiet house once enlivened by the noise of offspring.