Brothers Randy and Terry Brenner say it’s time to retire from the Comstock Park bait shop and auto repair shop that their father bought in 1963 and that they helped build since childhood.

Brenner’s Sporting Goods sells live bait and a selection of fishing lures and tackle, and also offers vehicle repair services in a 35,000-square-foot space on a major corridor north of Grand Rapids.

The store has developed a loyal following over the past sixty years, and now counts several generations of local families among its customers.

But with both brothers soon reaching retirement age, the family is ready to pass the baton to someone new who can carry on the legacy.

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“We’re just getting old and it’s time to move on,” Randy Brenner said. “It’s hard for all of us to keep working as we get older.”

The fishing store’s asking price of $925,000 includes the 0.84-acre property on which the store is located and all assets.

At a time when big box sporting goods stores and e-commerce retailers have taken business away from independent fishing shops, Brenner’s has been able to continue its success with competitive pricing and personalized service – all based on the knowledge the company has gained from decades of serving the region.

“The staff was incredibly helpful with fishing tips,” said Boyd Culver, a longtime customer of Brenner’s. “If they didn’t have what you needed, they always got it. I’ll miss the conversations and hope whoever buys it keeps it going.”

The story of Brenner’s Sporting Goods begins in the 1950s with patriarch Bill Brenner, who lived across the street from the former gas station – then known as the “Old Dutch” – and operated a roadside bait stand where he sold worms for 10 cents per 100.

After he finished selling for the day, Brenner took his earnings to the Old Dutch across the street, where he often spent it on soda and a candy bar.

“He told the (former owner), ‘One day I’m going to own this building and run a bait shop in it,'” Terry Brenner told his father’s story.

Bill Brenner bought the Old Dutch company in 1963 to realize his dream.

In the late 1960s, Old Dutch became a stop of Phillip’s 66. Brothers Randy and Terry Brenner joined the family business in 1968.

The brothers, two of Bill and Violet Brenner’s seven children, helped where they could. Terry, only seven at the time, stood on an upturned milk crate to clean car windows, while Randy, a year older, collected earthworms and minnows to sell.

“My dad would put them in cans and sell them,” Randy Brenner said. “That’s basically how we started (selling bait) when I got some worms for fishing.”

At that time, earthworms were sold for 50 cents a dozen.

In 1975, Bill Brenner purchased the building as the auto repair and accessories business grew. In the late 1980s, the store stopped selling gasoline entirely and changed its name to Brenner’s Service.

Around this time, Randy and Terry Brenner opened their own bait shop to fulfill their father’s original dream.

“My dad always wanted a really nice bait shop, so we expanded the building and made it a bait shop so he could live his dream,” said Terry Brenner.

In 1998, they bought the business from their father. Since then, Terry Brenner has served as the shop’s auto mechanic while Randy Brenner has focused on managing the bait and tackle business.

After their father died in 2006, the brothers continued to support their mother.

If the business is sold, Terry Brenner plans to spend his time pursuing his hobbies, building hot rods and fishing with his 12 grandchildren. He hopes the buyer will keep the business as a bait shop so longtime customers will continue to have a local place to shop.

Todd Roesler, a broker with Coldwell Banker Schmidt Realtors, has the listing. He believes there’s a 50/50 chance the buyer will operate a bait shop at that location.

Roesler pointed out that the location, less than a mile from the Grand River, is not only an ideal location for a bait and tackle store and the store has an existing customer base, but it is also a great location for new development.

He is currently marketing Brenner’s to local fishing groups in hopes of finding a buyer willing to carry on the Brenner’s legacy.

“I’m really interested in finding someone who wants to run a unique business like this, an auto mechanic or someone who likes fishing and hunting and can carry that on and add something to it,” he said.

Roesler pointed out that thanks to the brothers’ knowledge of river fishing, Brenner’s is making “impressive” sales, driven primarily by the sale of bait and fishing accessories.

“I like that they usually have what I need and that they are one of the few corner shops left in the area,” said Steve Hutchins, an avid river angler. “Bait shops have a special charm that big supermarkets can never replicate.”

Over the years, the bait shop has built a loyal clientele, including customers who have been purchasing bait and fishing accessories for decades, including some pieces hand-crafted by Randy Brenner.

“We tried to have only the equipment that people wanted,” Randy Brenner said. “(On the Grand River) there are a lot of steelhead fishing spots, so we get a lot of steelhead business. That’s something a lot of other shops don’t have.”

After selling the company, Randy Brenner hopes to spend his time traveling and enjoying his retirement.

“We still work six days a week,” he said. “It’s been a lot of work. I haven’t had much vacation, and some years we haven’t had any vacation or any time off at all. I want to go out and do a few more things before I die.”

While Randy Brenner had wanted to get out of the business for some time, it was more difficult to convince his brother.

“I thought I was going to drop dead here someday,” Terry Brenner said, noting that the store was all he knew, aside from a few other jobs he’d held briefly over the past 60 years.

Although he says he regrets not having more time to fish, building the business has been an important part of his life.

“It’s been wonderful to watch (the store) get bigger and better with my dad. It’s always been a good experience,” he said, adding, “We sell a lot more (now) than my dad ever sold.”

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Crain’s Grand Rapids business editor Joe Boomgaard contributed to this report.

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