Jul. 16—Bob's Sports store, a Waynesville landmark for the past 51 years, is set to close after an impressive run for the second-generation business.

"We just decided it was time to close," said current owner Kenny Mull, now in his 60s, who joined the business alongside his father, Bob Mull, in 1974, when he was only 21-years old.

For decades, Bob's Sports was "the" place to buy your baseball or softball glove and get it re-laced, order custom team shirts, screen-printed in-house or just stop for a chat and a coffee before work.

Even though times are tough for many small businesses, Kenny Mull says he's just ready to retire.

"We've been blessed to stay open for 50 years," Kenny Mull said. "It's just time. You get to a point where you're just tired."

The plan is to sell down — or sell off existing merchandise without ordering new stock — and not shut down immediately, Kenny Mull said. Currently, most things in the store are 40% off, from clothing to athletic gear to patches and golf clubs.

Kenny Mull owns the building and the property, but the family hasn't decided what they'll do with it just yet.

Humble beginnings

At one time, Bob's Sports store was Kenny Mull's grandmother's house. After she passed, Kenny Mull's father, Bob Mull, who worked at the Waynesville Country Club for 17 years, had an idea.

"He decided he wanted to open his own golf shop," Kenny Mull said. "He was a golf man; he knew golf inside and out."

Bob Mull turned his former home into a golf shop in Dec. 1971.

Kenny Mull's father didn't borrow money to open his store. He sold golf balls and clubs and put the profit back into buying more inventory until the store became profitable.

In the early years, it was a simple golf shop, stocked with new and used golf balls, some used club sets that Bob Mull would loan to people at the country club and a couple of brand-new Ram club sets.

After Tom Watson, who used Ram clubs himself, joined the PGA Tour in the early '70s, the shop sold out of Ram clubs month after month.

"At one time, [dad] sold more clubs in one year than anybody in the state of North Carolina, pro shops included," Kenny Mull said.

Bob Mull refinished and re-shafted clubs then, too, when most were made from wood, highlighting his passion and knowledge of the game.

Expansion arrives

With the Dayco plant right across the street, workers would stop in for a coffee and a chat before heading to work. Bob Mull even sold parking spots to workers in the field next to the store.

"Guys would come over and say, 'Bob, why don't you put in some fishing stuff?' So he did. Then, they said, 'Why don't you put in some hunting stuff?'" Kenny Mull recounted.

Bob Mull got his federal firearms license to sell guns and ammo and eventually took on gear and supplies for every sport somebody could play in Western North Carolina.

Kenny Mull worked at Dayco in the mid-70s, and his dad asked him to come help run the store in 1974.

"Eventually, it got too big for him," said Kenny Mull, who joined the store soon after. Kenny Mull and his dad tore out the inside of the home in the mid-70s, making room for wall-to-wall sports gear.

Kenny Mull's sister, Kathy Hambrick, came to work at the store in 1976, followed by Kenny Mull's wife, Debbie Mull, the following year.

Eventually Kenny Mull's mother, Mary Mull, came to do the bookkeeping in the store, and his brother, Richard Mull, came to help after retiring from the Air Force.

In the early years, there were no other sports stores west of Asheville, Kenny Mull said.

"Everybody west of Asheville stopped here first, so we've had a lot of friends and good customers from Cherokee, Swain and Sylva, and of course Haywood County," he said.

Bob Mull passed away in 2005, and his wife, Mary Konyn Mull, in 2009, after 15 years as an LPN before joining the store.

Hard to compete

Some would say the worst thing a small retail store can see is a Walmart across the street, but Kenny Mull said that was not the case for Bob's.

"That's what everybody thinks, but that's not true," Kenny Mull said. "[Walmart] is seasonal. They order in the winter for spring stuff, and when they sell it, that's it."

Actually, he said, Walmart often brings in business for the store.

"People that work in the sporting department will send customers over here if they don't carry something," he said.

The internet, Kenny Mull said, is the real culprit behind the failure of many small businesses these days.

"What kills us is when people order online," Kenny Mull said. "How can you compete when you can use Amazon Prime to order today and get it tomorrow with free shipping?"

Kenny Mull said internet sites like Amazon killed foot traffic for Bob's, which used to bring in many customers from surrounding counties.

Despite decreased traffic in recent years, Kenny Mull said many people still come in to get ball gloves re-laced, since he's one of the only people west of Asheville that can do it properly.

"Nobody else does that anymore," he said. "The nearest place anyone re-laces gloves is over in Asheville."

Customers have even brought gloves that were supposed to be re-laced at another store so Kenny Mull can fix it. He plans to keep re-lacing gloves even after retiring from the store.

In the meantime, he said many customers have come by and told him they hate to see the store close.

Krissy Deaver played all sports growing up, and Kenny Mull even coached her in basketball and softball, often playing alongside Mull's daughter, Tara.

"Kenny and Debbie and the whole family were always there to support us," she said. "They literally feel like my family. Whenever my daughter started playing sports, [Bob's Sports] was the first place I thought of. The instant you walk in the door you feel like family."

Krissy Deaver said her husband, Charlie Deaver, received Carhartt clothing every year on his birthday from his grandmother Justine, and bought them every year from Bob's Sports.

Jamey Gibbs has a similar story.

"We started going to Bob's Sports with my mom and dad when we were playing ball," he said, noting that he was one of three brothers who played basketball, football and baseball.

"They supplied all of our stuff through the years," Gibbs said. "And when my daughter and son came through, they supplied their stuff through that, too."

Gibbs said it was the relationship Kenny Mull and his family made with customers that kept them coming back.

"They were always very helpful and made sure what we needed for our kids, we got. When my daughter was in college, they would order stuff special for her," he said.

The feeling is mutual for Kenny Mull.

"We'll miss the people. We've made some really good friends," he said, including multiple generations of local families.

"We're selling stuff to kids now whose parents were kids when they first came in here," Kenny Mull said. "We see that all the time. It's pretty amazing. It's been a good run."