PORT ANGELES — The reader board in front of Port Angeles Marine Supply shares more than a little attitude — it laments the days when salmon was king in the city at the center of it all.
“Closed due to lack of interest!” Don Frizzell’s bold statement reads.
“Closed! Nearest marine store 47 miles east,” says the other side.
Although there are other marine supply stores in Port Angeles and Sequim, Frizzell says his tongue-in-cheek parking lot remarks refer to the store most like his own, West Marine in Port Townsend. The store sells marine supplies, fishing tackle and bait.
“I’ve come to the conclusion that we are fighting a losing battle,” Frizzell said of what led to his decision to close.
Frizzell has owned the marine supply store at 1014 Marine Drive since 1994, the year he said “someone turned the lights off” on the sportfishing industry as state officials began to shorten fishing seasons.
On Dec. 31, Frizzell officially closed his store across the street from Port Angeles Boat Haven marina.
Frizzell said business slowed to the point that closing his store was his only option.
“I guess it’s the end of an era. That’s the way I’m looking at it,” Frizzell said Wednesday from his office at the 3,200-square-foot building he owns on leased Port of Port Angeles property.
The building is now up for sale, he said.
“Things change and times change,” Frizzell said.
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The rest of the story appears in Thursday’s Peninsula Daily News.