After 32 Years, What a Racquet Still Holding Serve

Bob and Linda Lee may not serve the pros, but they cater to the players who emulate them.

The longtime owners of What a Racquet are in mid-season form as the back-to-school rush and U.S. Open craze are on with local players flocking to the Bloomfield Avenue tennis shop for racquets, clothing and apparel they see the pros using at Flushing Meadows.

"There's definitely more excitement this time of year. It's too bad the U.S. Open doesn't happen in the spring because then it would launch the whole summer," Linda Lee said.

"People are demoing, demoing, demoing all summer, and all of a sudden, we have so many racquets to string and everybody's buying racquets. The U.S. Open is great. It's total enthusiasm. Everybody loves it. They just love to be there and be part of it."

What a Racquet has been part of the Caldwell community since 1978, when the couple opened a small shop with only about $8,000 at the current location of Triple Chrome Plating at 25 Roseland Ave.

A year later, the two were married and soon outgrowing the shop's space. The store moved to 264 Bloomfield Ave., where Spring Garden Chinese Cuisine has been, expanded that site and then finally settled into its current location when the couple purchased in 1986 the building at 468 Bloomfield Ave.

"We purchased this building 24 years ago and it's really saved our lives, because the rents pay the taxes. Otherwise, I really don't think we'd still be here, because you really need to do a huge volume in tennis to discount and keep it going," Lee said. "The business grew and grew and grew over the last 24 years. It stabilized a little bit, but the last three years have been a little bit difficult."

For the past 32 years, What a Racquet has specialized in offering a wide selection of high-end products at a discounted price that has attracted serious tennis players from as far away as Sparta and the Jersey Shore.

"People will travel if they need a tennis shop and there really aren't that many, but the problem is the Internet and the product is available at your fingertips," Lee said.

"If they know what they want, they can get it. They don't have to come to a shop. But if they don't know what they want or if they want to try it out—I guess our biggest asset here is we have expert stringing and we have demos. People can try racquets before they buy it."

While What a Racquet has launched a Facebook page, the store's small staff of its owners, who are always on site, and four part-time employees has prevented the business from establishing a website, Lee said.

But she believes the store's two expert stringers, who Lee considers to be "probably the best in the area," and enthusiastic staff are unique attributes that has maintained a strong base of customers and a mailing list that has grown to more than 10,000 people.

Lee now lives in the Essex Fells home where she was the oldest of eight children growing up and where she and her husband have raised two sons.

Rob Lee, 24, played tennis at Seton Hall Prep before sticking with football at Villanova, while Christopher Lee, 18, is beginning to consider colleges as he enters his senior year at Seton Hall Prep.

After studying art education, Linda Lee believed she was destined to be a teacher—until she met her future husband.

"I love the merchandising. I love people. I like to sell," Linda Lee said. "I wouldn't have chosen this, probably. I would have stayed with teaching and being around kids."

Bob Lee put himself through the now-closed Upsala College in East Orange, where he was the No. 1 singles player, by stringing racquets at a Livingston tennis shop and giving lessons.

After working for a computer company and as a state auditor, Bob Lee began—on a part-time basis—the small tennis shop on Roseland Avenue with his then-girlfriend.

"It was this teeny, teeny shop and all we had were racquets, trophies, socks and strings. That's it and a couple of shoes," Linda Lee recalled. 

More than three decades later, the business has grown from those few items into one of the area's largest tennis shops through the staff's dedication to customer service and passion for the game.

"It's service and it's caring. It's liking people and wanting to always find them the best," Lee said. "We share their enthusiasm for what they love. We're fair. Our prices are good and we give people the time that they need when they come in."