Sports Staple Bob Kislin's Closing Its Doors

If you’re into sports -- whether you like to kayak or paddleboard on Barnegat Bay, or play team sports, or like to hunt -- chances are you’ve set foot in Bob Kislin’s Outdoor Sports in Toms River.

It was hard to miss the store: Sitting at the southwest end of the Toms River Mall on Route 37, a pair of brightly colored kayaks almost always out front, the store has been a place to find outdoor sports items you may not be able to find elsewhere.

After 40 years, however, the shop is closing its doors.

The owner, Ron Kislin, 66, is retiring after running the family’s business since his father’s retirement in 2000, according to a report in the Asbury Park Press. His father, Bob Kislin, opened his first store in Asbury Park in 1946, selling Army surplus goods, hunting and fishing gear.

Bob Kislin, who died in 2007, moved the store to Toms River in 1974, the Press report says. and has been a fixture ever since.

“He had stuff that nobody else had. ... We’re going to miss it terribly,” Nina Lauria of Toms River said, according to the report.

The store’s last day is July 31.

Read more about the store and Kislin’s impending retirement here.