Staff and wire reports

"I will fish a lot," Dubas said Sunday night as he envisioned his coming retirement from the sporting goods store his family has operated since the 1940s.

Dub's Sports is closing its Grand Island and Kearney stores after 64 years of doing business in central Nebraska.

Dick Dubas and his brother, Jim, are retiring.

"We've had a lot of great years here," Jim says, "and walking away is tough. We thought it was time to call it quits while we could still walk and do some things.

"It's going to be different not turning the key in the door every day. It was a tough decision, but I'm happy walking away when we are."

Dick Dubas, who is blind, said he can't run the business without his younger brother.

The hunting, fishing and outdoor equipment outfitter will close May 31. The business and property including merchandise, buildings, land, display racks, fixtures and other items is for sale.

Dick Dubas said either or both business locations could be sold turn-key, or could be sold piecemeal.

"I really enjoy what I'm doing I've never not liked it," said Dick Dubas, who turns 65 next month. "It's been good 99.9 percent of the time."

Dick Dubas said his father, Adam, started the business as an Army surplus shop in 1944 with a downtown location where Bonzai Beach Club is now in Grand Island. When space grew tight, a second downtown location opened where the Edward Jones business is now in downtown Grand Island on Locust Street.

In 1953, Dub's Sports opened at Five Points in Grand Island, where it expanded in 1956 and a warehouse was added in 1978.

Dub's Sports opened in Kearney in 1972, when it sold Kawasaki motorcycles and jet skis near Bob's Superstore. The store moved to its current Kearney location in 1982.

Jim Dubas is happy at the front counter of his shop. His wide smile says so. For 26 years, he has stood at the cash register, greeting customers and watching cars fly by out front.

Between trips to the live bait tank in the back, he sells fishing lures, shotgun shells and camping equipment.

"It's fun things to sell it's things people want. It's not something they have to have. They come in and they like things," Dick Dubas said.

"They like the items you have to sell and they are more pleasant than the stuff you have to have like gas in your car or something like that," Dick said with a chuckle.

"We've never been fancy enough to have a mission statement. If we did, I suppose it would be something about surviving and staying in business," Jim jokes. "With us, it has always been about offering good customer service and helping people find what they want."

When the Dubas' father founded Dub's Sports, it sold hunting and fishing gear, U.S. Army surplus tents and other items former soldiers looked for as they took up hobbies following their return from World War II.

Jim's brothers, Don and Dick, took over the business after their dad died in 1964.

"Kearney is a strong area when it comes to people interested in hunting and fishing," Jim said. "That's one of the reasons we decided to open our second store here. We were confident we'd do well in this location."

The store has been a fixture on Second Avenue in south Kearney.

"We haven't changed much at all. It's always been about fishing, hunting and camping equipment. We've stuck with the basics," Jim says.

One recent morning, a longtime customer stopped at Dub's to buy minnows before heading to Johnson Lake to fish for walleye.

"Make sure we get the fish-flavored ones," he joked with Dubas.

Dubas responded, "I think we can guarantee that."

Then he grabbed a small net and fished out a dozen minnows.

"People still like the convenience of shopping in a small store where they know they'll get personalized service," Jim said. "I think that's what kept us going all these years."

Besides loyal customers, the stores have had loyal employees.

"We have, ever since the beginning, have been blessed with really, really good help," Dick Dubas said. "Longevity we've had some employees who have been with us 30 years. That really makes a difference."

It's also been a real family effort.

The Dubas' mother worked as the store's bookkeeper until the late 1970s, when Dick Dubas' wife, Jane, took over as bookkeeper in Grand Island.

Dick Dubas joked that all three brothers had daughters none of whom want to take over the family sporting goods store.

It will give up its membership in Nation's Best Sports, a national sporting goods buying group, as the retirement sale is under way.

Dub's Sports will be selling inventory seven days a week 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. weekdays, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.

"We're going to sell everything down and figure out how to get rid of the rest of it the fixtures and building and go from there," Dick Dubas said.