End Of A Long Run Dreier's, the oldest sporting-goods store in America, is closing its doors

Bernie Dreier, the immediately likable, 85-year-old owner of
Dreier's Sporting Goods in Watchung, N.J., isn't getting much
work done lately. In his dwindling days in business, he's in
charge of selling off more than $1 million worth of inventory,
but he can't go 10 seconds without a downhearted customer making
like Scheherazade and regaling him with a story. "I bought my
first set of cleats from your dad," said a gray-templed man with
a mirthless laugh. "We're sure going to miss you," lamented a
middle-aged woman. "My father, my brothers and my sons all got
their first fishing poles from Dreier's."

Founded in 1868 by Bernie's grandfather Samuel, Dreier's is
believed to be the oldest sporting goods store in the U.S.
Dreier's weathered the Great Depression, survived a fire in the
1970s and, more recently, withstood the poaching of customers by
superstores such as Modell's and the Sports Authority. But last
year Federal Realty, which manages the Blue Star Shopping Center
in Watchung, decided not to renew Dreier's lease, hoping instead
to charter the space to a national "anchor store."

What makes Dreier's closing particularly bittersweet is that
business has never been better. The 11,000-square-foot store
that is now festooned with garish signs reading GOING OUT OF
BUSINESS and ALL FIXTURES FOR SALE carried everything from
artificial catfish bait to wrestling singlets to baseball
gloves. "For ethical reasons, I stopped selling guns and ammo
[in 1972], and I didn't sell those $180 sneakers," says Dreier
with palpable pride. "But other than that, we tried to provide
our customers with everything they could need."

Dreier's furnished generations of kids with their Little League
uniforms and Pop Warner helmets; it donated truckloads of
equipment to children displaced by the Newark riots of 1967 and
to community groups that were short of cash; and it sponsored
scores of youth athletic teams in the area. Bobby Thomson, the
New York Giants hero, still comes by at least once a week, often
just to chat. Baltimore Orioles outfielder Jeffrey Hammonds
worked at Dreier's while he was in high school. Milt Campbell,
the 1956 Olympic decathlon champion, wore a warmup outfit from
Dreier's at the Melbourne Games.

Although Dreier's exudes a distinct Capra-esque bonhomie, there
is no Hollywood ending. Bernie has scoured Watchung for a
suitable site to move to, but he has found nothing. He's averse
to running a mail-order business because he knows he'll miss
interacting with his customers, and he's adamantly opposed to
bulldozing his way into a neighboring town. "I'd never do that,"
he says. "I've never been greedy, and I'm not going to go into
another community and take business from other stores already
there."

So Aug. 29 will mark Bernie's last day at the store where he has
worked since Woodrow Wilson's administration, when he helped his
father inflate footballs and basketballs. After his brother
Henry died in 1952, Bernie took over Dreier's ownership. "I'm
not bitter, but I never thought it would end like this," he
says, surveying the clearance racks. "I guess it's like being on
a dynasty sports team. Even while you're enjoying the ride, you
know it can't go on forever."

COLOR PHOTO: GEORGE TIEDEMANN No $180 sneakers Bernie wouldn't sell guns and ammunition, either. [Bernie Dreier]