COLUMBUS, Ohio — As Zach Griffith prepared to leave for a recent Lake Erie fishing excursion, a friend asked him where he bought his bait.
"Down on Front Street," said Griffith, 24, of Columbus.
The answer stunned his friend.
"He was like, 'There's a bait store in downtown Columbus?'??"
Such reactions grate on Bill Wentzel, 73, owner of R&R Sports Headquarters.
The bait shop, after all, has been around for 98 years.
R&R was founded on E. Rich Street in 1913 by two Roberts brothers (hence the store name). Thirty-four years later, Wentzel's father (also named Bill) bought the business. In 1976, the younger Bill Wentzel moved it to the current location, a 2,000-square-foot building at 781 S. Front St. in the Brewery District.
In those days, the neighborhood was working-class and gritty — just as it had been since the late 19th century, when the area's namesake breweries were going strong. The bait shop suited its surroundings, serving Columbus residents who wanted to fish the Scioto River, which flows just a few hundred yards west of it.
In recent years, though, the Brewery District has been made over as a historic area and — much like German Village, its neighbor to the east — now features renovated brick houses and a number of new condominium and apartment buildings.
"The bottom line," Wentzel said, "is we were there before all this other stuff happened."
Don Plank, a lawyer who has worked for Bill Wentzel and whose family has ties to the enduring Plank's Bier Garten on S. High Street, sees a bittersweet side to the transformation.
"The area is more upscale," Plank said. "That was pretty close to a slum area (in the '70s), so (redevelopment) is a good deal for Columbus. But, at the same time, it can push out the flavor of a neighborhood."
R&R certainly is flavorful, with a mural of a deer and a leaping bass adorning the double-wide storefront and a smell indoors that only an outdoor-sports enthusiast could love.
Taped to walls are fishing maps of area lakes and photos of customers posing with fish caught using R&R bait. Above gurgling tanks of water behind the counter is a sign listing the prices of an array of live bait: night crawlers, red worms, crappie minnows, bass minnows, chub minnows, soft crawdads, hellgrammites, leeches (water or jumbo mud), waxworms, mealworms, hard crawfish, shiners, goldfish and skipjacks.
The gear, too, seems impressive: Fishing poles, line, hooks, sinkers, bobbers and lures fill several aisles.
"This place has a certain charm to it," said customer Larry Harding, of Columbus. "I could go to Dick's (Sporting Goods) zip-zip, get what I want and be done. But, here, I like to hang out."
Large retail stores might sell a greater quantity or variety of gear, but they can seem sterile compared with family-owned shops such as R&R, where Wentzel and son Bryan, 50, deliver a folksy mix of advice, expertise and small talk.
"There is a social aspect," said Tim Parrett, of the Ohio Division of Wildlife. "Some people like going into a place like that and meeting people.
"Plus," he added, "they have more localized information. They may be stocked up with locally popular lures that can be hard to find elsewhere."
Griffith stopped by on a recent rainy weekday afternoon to have his crossbow fine-tuned for the start of Ohio's deer archery season, which opened Sept. 24.
At a more generic retail store, such services might not be offered.
"These guys, it's their passion," Griffith said of the Wentzels. "It's their whole life."
Korey Brown, license manager for the wildlife division, said about half of the 900 retail outlets that sell Ohio fishing licenses are, like R&R, privately owned.
Very few, though, can be found in a big city.
"To have a place like R&R in an urban setting is very, very unique," said Brown, who could think of one or two in Cleveland and none in Cincinnati.
Although R&R retains a core of loyal customers, Bill Wentzel said that making a living off the business is becoming increasingly difficult.
The shop is suffering its toughest year yet, he said, in part because of the sluggish national economy.
"People have to go to the grocery store, but they don't have to come into a bait store or go fishing. I've hired two (fewer) people the last two years, and me and Bryan are working more hours to keep us afloat."
Although he doesn't fish, area resident C. Sweeney said he hopes R&R doesn't close anytime soon.
"I've seen it before with other local businesses," Sweeney said. "The owner gets old and tired, a corporation comes in and buys it, and puts in another condo.
"I think family-owned places like that should be protected somehow as a local landmark."
Through the years, Wentzel has faced his share of obstacles, including a 1989 Columbus ordinance severely restricting the sale of firearms. Shortly afterward, he stopped selling guns.
Three years ago, when he sought to obtain a zoning variance to convert part of his property to a small restaurant/bar and patio area, area residents — citing concerns about parking availability — persuaded the city Board of Zoning Adjustment to deny the request.
Perhaps the thorniest problem, though, might simply be a changing society.
The shifting demographics of the location probably don't help, but bait shops in general might have become an anachronism.
"Everyone now wants their kids to play Little League baseball or football or soccer," Wentzel said.
"When I was growing up, we didn't have those things. What did we do for recreation? Dad took you fishing or squirrel hunting."
Information from: The Columbus Dispatch, http://www.dispatch.com