An ad from March 1925 announces the opening of Repp’s sporting goods store. The store was opened by B.F. Repp, who had operated a sporting goods store in Bryan since the 1880s.
Courtesy of Allen County Historical Society
In the late 1920s, The Lima News asked business and civic leaders to write short essays for a column titled “Why I Like Lima.”
In his essay, businessman B.F. Repp, who was new to Lima, cited the city’s “wonderful geographic location,” potential for “outstanding steady growth” and “the unusual spirit of cooperation” among the city’s businessmen.
“Last of all,” Repp wrote, “I believe Lima holds a great future for athletics. The city has suffered greatly in the past for want of some athletic diversion for its people, and when the opportunity is afforded they will react strongly in favor of athletics, as is evidenced by the popularity of newly opened golf courses.”
Repp had already bet that Lima held a great future for athletics. In 1925, he opened the B.F. Repp sporting goods company at 226 N. Elizabeth St.
“Incorporation papers were granted Wednesday by the secretary of state at Columbus to B.F. Repp Co., of Lima, in the sum of $10,000,” the Lima Republican-Gazette reported March 4, 1925. “Those named in the articles of incorporation are B.F. Repp, B.E. Repp, D.E. Repp, F.K. Repp and O.J. Repp.”
A native of Bryan, B.F. Repp had operated a store there for about four decades by the time he opened the Lima shop. Helping B.F. Repp manage the Lima store were his sons, Byard E. Repp and F.K. “Bunny” Repp.
In early April 1925, about two weeks after Repp’s grand opening, as Lima and the country geared up for baseball season, an ad for Repp’s in The Lima News touted its “Baseball Week Specials.” Among the deals were first basemen’s mitts and fielder’s gloves for $2 each. Meanwhile, for $18 a team, the ad stated, “we will outfit boys’ teams this week, 9 suits including caps, shirts, trousers and belts.”
Even as they sold sports equipment, the Repps stayed true to B.F. Repp’s pledge to provide athletic diversion by organizing, orchestrating, promoting, sponsoring, hosting, playing in and even officiating sporting events in the Lima area.
Over the years, Repp’s store served as a ticket outlet for such sporting events as the annual Thanksgiving Day game between South and Central high schools, as a site for meetings of sports officials and for the organizational meetings of leagues for baseball, football, basketball, ping pong and badminton.
The Repp’s store also occasionally served as a venue for sports. In late January 1926, a group of men participated in an indoor football tournament at the Repp’s store. “The game is played with cards, a green pasteboard being used for a gridiron,” offered the Republican-Gazette by way of explanation.
In short, if it involved sports, it was likely the Repps were involved, and they wasted little time getting started.
“Lima will be represented in the professional basketball field by a squad sponsored by the Repp Sporting Goods company, it was announced last night by B.F. Repp, manager of the firm,” Lima’s Morning Star and Republican-Gazette reported Nov. 15, 1925. Noting that most of the team’s games would be away games because “Lima has no suitable floor on which to entertain visiting teams,” the newspaper added that the team would be managed by “Bunny” Repp.
“Bunny” Repp, who had played football at Wittenberg, was immersed in local sports. In addition to the basketball team, he managed and played on a football team sponsored by Repp’s. And, when not playing or managing, he officiated at high school and college games.
In early October 1926 when Bluffton College, with “a line averaging 185 and 190 pounds,” played the team from Bowling Green State Normal College in the first game of the season at Bluffton, “Bunny” Repp officiated. That game was preceded by a high school game between Bluffton and Wapakoneta, also officiated by “Bunny” Repp.
According to the 1976 history of Allen County, the Western Ohio Officials Organization was formed in 1926 by “the Repp boys, Eli Hauenstein and Holly Thomas.” It was, according to the history, “the second such group in the state of Ohio.”
Repp’s was a frequent sponsor of local golf tourneys, including a unique one in the summer of 1927.
“Twenty-one golfers representing 13 Ohio cities were on hand at Spring Brook Country Club Thursday to vie for the honor of state amateur lefthanded golf champion,” The Lima News reported in a front-page story July 28, 1927. “It was the occasion of the first tournament of this kind ever held in the state. Sponsoring the portside tournament are The Lima News and the B.F. Repp Sporting Goods Co.”
As spring turned into summer in 1930, the first year of the Great Depression, an eight-team Repp amateur baseball league comprised of teams from Lima and surrounding towns was organized during a meeting at Repp’s store, which by then had moved across the street to 215 N. Elizabeth St. Winner of the league, The Lima News wrote June 22, 1930, would be awarded the B.F. Repp trophy.
In May 1931, B.F. Repp announced the Repps’ stores in Lima and Bryan would merge.
“Byard E. Repp, who is general manager of the organization and who has lived in Lima for the last six years, will change his residence to Bryan after June 1, where he will be in general charge of business,” the Morning Star and Republican-Gazette reported May 26, 1931. “Bunny” Repp, meanwhile, would manage the Lima store, with Oella J. Repp serving as secretary, the newspaper wrote.
After a half-century in the sporting goods business, the store’s founder, B.F. Repp, stepped down in 1933 and closed the Bryan store. He died in Bryan in November 1952 at the age of 94.
The Repp brothers continue to operate the sporting goods store on North Elizabeth Street into the early 1970s, when it was taken over by Don Mort and Ken Roethlisberger, the grandfather of former Pittsburgh quarterback Ben Roethlisberger.
Byard Repp died at the age of 83 in July 1974, in Clearwater, Florida, where he had been living. “Bunny” Repp, 84, died in March 1983 in Lima.
Several months after “Bunny” Repp’s death, Mort wrote that “Bunny” Repp was “known statewide for his tremendous interest in sports and his almost total dedication to coaching standards, fair play, rules and officiating for almost 60 years. (He) was truly a professional in the sports world. His untiring efforts in his dedication and promotion of sports of all types have left standards not soon to be forgotten.”
In November 1978, after almost 50 years at 215 N. Elizabeth St., Mort and Roethlisberger announced that Repp’s was relocating to 562 W. Market St. Repp’s closed its door for the final time in 1987.
SOURCE
This feature is a cooperative effort between the newspaper and the Allen County Museum and Historical Society.
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