WATCH: LI Soccer Shop Owner 'Floored By Outpouring Of Support'

MASSAPEQUA, NY — As a mainstay in the community for more than 50 years, the Massapequa Soccer Shop was the go-to spot for the sport's accessories.

But, the family-run business on Park Boulevard is closing at the end of June. Helen Fishman, whose parents began the shop out of their garage in the early 1970s, is retiring.

Despite the groundswell of support, Fishman said, "it's time." But choosing to close the shop "was a very hard decision."

Fishman, involved with the store since she was 12 years old, is touched by the farewell responses.

"My brother and I are quite floored by the outpouring of support," she told Patch. "Everyday, it's just an onslaught of emails, texts, phone calls [and] people dropping off cards with their gratitude."

Her father Gene Bodenstein died in 2022 and his wife Fay passed away in 2016. They made a personal touch with customers as one of the four family member were always at the shop, six days a week.

As for the decision to get selling soccer gear, her mother came to U.S. after World War II and was familiar with the popular European sport. "My father had no clue," she said. "It's because my brothers wanted to start to play soccer that it got my parents involved."

Watch the full "Patch Weekly Spotlight" with Helen Fishman below.