When Lorne and Bernice Black first took over the family business, they had to figure out where their interests laid so they could better focus their efforts.

And now as they prepare to walk away from Blacks Cycle and Sporting Goods at the end of this year, they have to again go through a self examination to focus their retirement.

“We don’t know what we’ll do or what we want to do,” Bernice said. “We are going to have to go find out who we are, I guess.”

"Maybe do more fishing and maybe some hunting,” Lorne added.

There were many factors which went into the decision to call it quits, Lorne said, such as supply chain issues, shrinking profit margins and competition from bigger companies and online sellers.

“And I’m worn out. I’m wearing out from it, it’s a long time to do retail. Forty-two years I’ve done,” Lorne said, adding he used to make the daily trek from Barker School to work in the store with his father.

And while they do have fond memories of their own children growing up in the store and interacting with customers, there really is not an opportunity to hand down the business to them.

“The boys are not interested, really. They have pretty good careers of their own,” Lorne said, adding they never pressured their children towards taking over the business. “We kind of steered them away from it because we saw what the ’90s were like. The ‘90s were not fun trying to make a living here, honestly. But in some ways it’s kind of sad, too, because we are making money, but we’re just out of time and out of life.”

The business was launched in 1945 as a bicycle repair shop with $800 Lorne’s father Ernie borrowed from a family member.

In 1948, Ernie moved the business to its present location, renting the southern half of the front of the building from the Oddfellows Lodge. As he expanded the lines of sporting goods he carried, Ernie acquired space in the building as it became available and in 1960 was able to purchase the building from the Oddfellows.

Continuing to grow the business, Ernie added a workshop in the 1970s and a full basement under the back portion of the building in the 1980s.

The business has changed over the years, Lorne said, as his father carried a wide range of sporting goods and over the last 30 years he and Bernice have narrowed the focus.

That history, however, makes it difficult to just lock the doors and walk away.

“This old building is full of stuff, that I have to go through. It’s going to take time. I’m closing the door, but I’m still going to be here for a few years to clear out this building. So we’re hoping to sell online and things like that. If not we’re going to have to do an auction or something like that,” Lorne said.

“The attic is full. We are a family of keepers of things and my dad kept everything. I cleaned out some of the garbage, so to speak, but there’s still a lot of junk in the attic I want to go through and I can’t just do that in a month or two. It’s going to take time.”

With only a few tire kickers showing interest in the business it didn’t make sense keep trying to find a buyer.

“It was going to be a tough brand to sell off,” Lorne said, adding when they originally started in the business, he and Bernice planned to stay for 20 years.

“As much fun as it’s been, it’s time to live our lives and have some freedom. People don’t realize what a ball and chain it is. (Lorne’s) dad was in retail his whole life and his dad always said he saw it like a prison sentence running your own business,” Bernice said. “There’s a lot of good memories. And our customers were going to miss so much. That’s going to be the hardest part. But what do you do? It’s time.”

Meanwhile, after 77 years in business, Dauphin Music and Electronics is also closing its doors.

Co-owners Danny, Dave and Theresa Zabiaka first began talking about a possible closure about two years ago, when they put the business up for sale.

“We’re all getting up in age, so it was time to move on,” Danny said, adding there was a little bit of interest, but nothing worked out. “Without any buyer for the business, we had to make the decision to shut down and put the building up for sale.”

Danny plans to move to Alberta to be closer to family, while his sister Theresa will move on to something else.

“That’s why the decision was made. I have family calling my name. The big thing for me was I have family calling my name out to Alberta,” he said. “And it wasn’t as much fun as it used to be coming into work every day. It started feeling more like work. For years it was always fun coming in. Lots of people around. It was turning into more work and I wasn’t enjoying it as much.”

Zabiaka admits it is a sad moment for him to see the store close after 77 years of operation.

“I’d like to see the legacy carry on. We’ve been here a long time. Of course, none of us had any family that are interested in taking over, so we had to go looking elsewhere for someone to take over. That didn’t happen,” he said. “It’s a sad day for me and my siblings, because we’ve all been here for so long. But that being said, I’m ready to move on. I’m at the point in my life when I need to do other things.”

The final day the store will be open has yet to be determined. Before that can happen, there will be four weeks of liquidation.

Zabiaka estimates the middle of October, around Oct. 15, will be the last time they will officially be open, offering the biggest discounts.

“There will still be some stragglers and we’ll make some arrangements to take care of whatever is left. So probably, the last day would be at the end of October or there abouts,” he said. “No nailed down actual date yet.”

The liquidation sale has already begun, but Zabiaka said they don’t have a lot of stock, because word has gotten around and people have been stopping by to pick up some deals.

“A lot of our products were discounted to some degree. And we haven’t been ordering stock for the last little while, so we don’t have tons of stock to get rid of. But everything has to go, so we can close,” he said.

Zabiaka said it has been a great run, while he has been at the store.

“It’s been a lot of fun, with meeting a lot of people. It’s been awesome that way,” he said. “It’s mixed emotions, of course, but I’m ready to move on. I came to that conclusion about a year-and-a-half ago that it’s time. So that’s the way it is.”