Mayhood’s Sporting Goods, a family legacy that began as Mayhood’s Bait Shop, will be closing its doors on July 31 as owner Mike Mayhood retires after a lifetime dedicated to outdoor sports. On customer appreciation day he was able to see his grandkids work the register in a full circle moment. (Submitted photo)

NORWICH – For 60 plus years, Mike Mayhood has been a fixture in Chenango County's outdoor community as a welcoming presence at his store, Mayhood's Sporting Goods, and keeper of a family legacy that began with a porch sign reading “Worms for sale.” Now, at 70, he is retiring after close to a lifetime of work that shaped generations of local sportsmen.

“It was a very difficult decision,” Mayhood said, “I have a lot of great customers and staff here at the store. I've loved it for many years, but I'm 70 years old next month and it's triggered something in me that says quit work and enjoy life.” After decades of dedicated work and long hours spent at the store he says he's ready to spend more time with his family, his kids and grandchildren.

Mayhood's Sporting Goods, began in the early 1960s, when leftover fishing worms turned into a small neighborhood enterprise. “We started out with just live bait,” he said. “My oldest brother wanted to go fishing and dad said, pick worms and I'll take you fishing. They had worms left over, so they put a sign on the porch ‘worms for sale.’ And it grew from there.”

The family lived on Division Street in Norwich and would even hire local kids to pick worms to sell for bait. Local Assemblyman Joe Angelino, who grew up basically right across the street, was one of those kids.

“The first job I ever had where I did work, and somebody paid me, was Mayhood's,” said Angelino. That job for Mayhood's Bait Shop, meant a lot to Angelino growing up and in 2022, he nominated Mayhood's Sporting Goods for the New York State Historic Business Preservation Registry.

As the bait business grew, Mayhood wanted to expand into other products. He reinvested money earned from his paper route, shoveling sidewalks, and mowing lawns to purchase tackle equipment to sell at the family store, then called Mayhood's Bait & Tackle. When his father passed in 1990, Mike and his wife, Barbara, purchased the business and expanded it into a full-service outdoor outfitter.

“We put questionnaires out for customers. What other products would you like to see us carry? And the first thing they said was archery products. So that was our next step,” said Mayhood. “And now we have everything, of course.”

City of Norwich Mayor, Robert Jeffrey expressed, “Mayhood's has always been that one place where you can get anything, whether it's for fishing, for hunting. I am a patron of that business myself, and I remember getting my first hunting license at Mayhood's. I remember getting my first fishing license at Mayhood's, and they made an impact across our region, certainly in Chenango County.”

Through every expansion and relocation, the thing that stayed the same was the customers’ loyalty and the Mayhood's commitment to service. “The only thing that really stayed the same is the loyalty of our customers. Many of our customers I see every year, as much as they can get in here, not just local customers, but customers from Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Long Island, they come in here a lot and they always want to say ‘hi.’ Even if they don't need any product, they'll stop on their way by to see us and see how we're doing. It's kind of heartwarming to have that kind of customer support,” Mayhood said

As word of his retirement has spread the loyalty has been especially visible. Mayhood expressed how every day customers have come in and told him their feelings about the store closing. “They're very sad. They're happy for me.” he said, “This is a general thing they say. I'm happy you can retire. Good for you. But it's not good for us.”

“It's been a destination for decades for people who come to this area to enjoy outdoor sports. If they drove up from out of state or some far place away, whether they were kayaking or hunting or whatever they were doing, if they forgot it at home, they knew they could go to Mayhood's and they would have it,” said Angelino. “It supported local economy, it supported several jobs, and it was a family tradition.”

Mayhood recalled a recent moment that encompasses what made the work worthwhile, the customer appreciation. A woman came into the store wanting to buy a bow. Helping her with the sale, choosing the right bow for her, he helped her get set up, and he showed her how to shoot it. Providing customer service and education. “And she went out and bought a gift card from a food place nearby and brought it in and gave me to thank me. I said, you didn't need to do that. She said, well, you went above and beyond. You really, really, made it easy for me to buy a bow and to learn to shoot,” he said, “I'm going to miss that kind of stuff.”

Another moment that stayed with him came during the store's recent customer appreciation day. “My two grandchildren were running cash register, and I took a picture of it, and it really tickled my heart,” he said, “because my dad ran it, and then our kids ran it, and then my kids ran it, and now their kids were working it. So it's full circle, kind of.”

When asked what he hopes people will remember most about the store and family legacy, Mayhood didn't hesitate to say, “I hope that they can remember the honesty, the integrity, the care of the detail.”

“You know, when somebody comes in to buy a bow, we try to set it up right for them. And if something goes wrong, we make it right, you know. I hope that's what they remember. A fair dealership,” said Mayhood.

With Mike's retirement coming up, the store is planned to close on July 31. A date chosen intentionally to support his customers going into hunting season. Mayhood explained that hunting licenses come out the first week of August, so that is typically when the store gets really busy. “I thought it'd be easier on somebody to buy it if they bought it right in front of a real busy season rather than get through the busy season and sell it when it's slow,” he said still expressing a concern for what is best for his customers.

“We're going to continue the sales and get inventory down and give my customers a first chance. Everything can go to auction when we're all done and get sold. But I'd rather have my customers come in here and get the deals first,” said Mayhood.

“I know Mike certainly deserves a good retirement,” said Angelino

“I wish Mr. Mayhood very well in his retirement, and they will be fully missed when they close,” said Jeffrey.

His decision to retire did not come lightly, over the years he's continually invested in improving the store's offering and regulation compliance but now he'd like to spend time with his family.

“I would love to be 20 years younger and start over with where we are now,” said Mayhood. “It is a shame that there's not going to be a store here, and there's still time for somebody to step up and buy it. But I've accomplished an awful lot, I feel, and I'm very happy with where things are.”