This is a rare dedicated paddlesports store and has been an institution in the area for a long time.
This is a big blow to local paddlesports enthusiasts—it’ll be a much longer drive now to try anything in person and there’s nothing as big within several hours.
The owner is moving on to different things per a recent newsletter; the word from a more local forum is that no employees wanted to buy the business or the inventory because business prospects are looking bad.
They’ll still hold the big yearly convention.
Otherwise, online we go…direct purchases from manufacturers is apparently the way of the future. Alas!
WOW! This is huge news - and thanks for breaking it skeggy_boi.
The first question that leaps to mind is how can they host a huge event like Canoecopia in March if they’re closing down in December? Such a huge event, surely among the largest in the country, takes a lot of up front money, I’d suppose… so how can that work?
And , secondly, who in the Midwest is in a position to fill their shoes? Carl’s Paddlin’ in Lone Rock is a much smaller operation and I know of nothing in the Chicagoland or Milwaukee area that is close to comparable to Rutabaga.
Reportedly they’re going to keep doing Canoecopia as its own thing and also do rentals at Olbrich Park in Madison in the summertime but have no store any more.
Offshore Marine in the north Chicago 'burbs has a warehouse you can stop by—I’ve actually bought a paddle there (that they didn’t carry at Rutabaga) in person.
Paddle Dynamics up by Wausau has some nice stuff, as does Umingmaq up north.
It’s definitely not the same with any of them, though.
I recently managed to put a tear in a kevlar kayak. I stopped by Rutabaga to ask about repairing it. They didn’t sell kevlar kits but a manager said he’d go digging in the back and see what he could find. He actually found a random strip of kevlar fabric laying around that he gave me for ten bucks.
They’ve always been so gracious with all my wacky ideas and digging in the back for a different diameter of bungee cord or a solution to whatever stupid question I had on a given day.
I’ve always tried to support Rutabaga by stopping there before buying anything online—very sad to see it go. I can’t envision anything taking its place in the same way.