Trombly’s Tackle Box turned 35 years old in April, and owner Remi Trombly couldn’t be more pleased.
“It was a one-man show when I started 35 years ago — just my daughter and I. We were in a 600-square-foot store downtown and sold primarily about 85 per cent fishing gear, with just some guns for hunting,” said Trombly.
“We just kept expanding from there.”
Twenty-nine years ago, Trombly took over and renovated the industrial building at the corner of Highway 12 and West Street, where the store still is today.
“We were at about 1,000 square feet when we bought the building, (and) then renovated and added on since then. We put our porch on, expanded four or five more times, and now we have roughly 6,000 square feet, plus an acre-and-a-half of outdoor products as well, with kayaks, saunas, smokers, barbecues, and more,” he said.
Trombly currently stocks more than 80,000 products.
“We stock a lot of watersports, kayaks, water trampolines, barbecues, any kind of water toys, skis, the boards, towables — all that stuff. We also carry the full line of Yeti products, your camping gear, and, of course, still lots of fishing gear, and guns and ammunition for hunting,” he explained.
Trombly’s has loyal employees, with many having worked there for more than years, and loyal customers as well.
“We’ve actually had multiple customers that are into second, third and fourth generation, which is kind of cool," he explained.
"We just had a customer in last year who brought his great-granddaughter in to buy her some fishing gear. She was just four years old. He said to me, ‘Remember him?’ And it was the grandson who was all grown up and had his little daughter here with them both. That’s very special,” Trombly reminisced. “It has become a must-do stop for many people, and a part of a lot of families, I guess.”
Nancy Murray has worked the cash at Trombly’s for more than eight years. She said it was the ease of the situation that drew here there.
“Inside the store is nice. It’s comfortable. I enjoy the people I work with and the clientele who come here. I like to fish when I get the chance,” she said.
In June, Logan Trombly will have worked for his dad for 12 years.
“I started out cooking and in hospitality,” he said. “Then I came to work for my dad. It involves some give and take, for sure, some biting of the tongue,” he said with a laugh, “but it’s character building. I enjoy it a lot.”
Logan is in charge of the gun room, which he enjoys primarily because he is a history buff, and there is a lot of history with guns.
“I like kayaking, but of all the siblings, I’m definitely the more nerdy guy,” he said.
“We do trade, and take guns and ammo on consignment. These days, there is actually a shortage of ammo due to the war in Ukraine, among other things, so I am actually buying used ammo from people, which is something we wouldn’t normally be looking for," Logan explained.
He remembered a “really cool gun that was brought in” once.
“This was a gun that would have been from North Silva Company. It actually wasn’t even a used gun; it was a surplus, old military rifle, a Schmidt-Rubin K-31. It’s a straight-pull bolt from World War 2, and it's pretty neat,” he said.
“The guy said, ‘Hey, have you ever checked underneath the butt plate on this?’ I didn’t know much about guns then; this was, like, six years ago. Apparently, on models, old guns, they used to have platoon tags and the name of the original guy that had the firearm. So, we undo the lock plate and pull it off and, sure enough, there’s the platoon tag with a guy’s name from World War 2.”
Remi Trombly mused, “We’ve maxed the space here — that’s for sure — but we’re always looking at other opportunities to do new products and categories and looking at our mix of products. So, who knows what happens next? It’s been a good journey and we really appreciate the support and the loyalty from our customers locally and from out of town as well.”
Trombly’s Tackle Box is located at 595 West St. S. More information can be found on its website.
