“I’d hate to just close the store and walk away so we’re hoping to keep it going, for the sake of my [20] employees especially.”– John Riley, Owner of The Ski House.
Here’s your chance at a dream job: running your own ski shop. The Herald News reports that The Ski House in Somerset, Massachusetts has been for sale for the past year. Open since the 1960s, the Massachusetts ski shop has been a hub of the Somerset winter community for their skiing and riding needs. But with John Riley being seventy-five years old, he is looking to retire and pass the torch to a new owner. The price point is a not too shabby $200,000.
Riley’s family has a long history of selling ski gear in Somerset. In 1956, his stepfather, William Furze, and his business partner, Norm LeComte, started selling equipment at Leconte’s home on Riverside Avenue. They opened the ski shop on 1241 Wilbur Avenue. John Riley began to help out his stepfather at the shop in high school and took over the operation in the 1980s. Its most successful years were during the 80s, which saw major sales and an expansion of the ski shop. The store went through some ups and downs over the past couple of decades, as they decided to not open for most of the summer for the past fifteen years due to a lack of revenue. While many businesses struggled during the pandemic, the growth of winter sports has helped grow revenue for The Ski House.
John hasn’t set a timeframe yet on when he would close the shop if no one buys it, but he’s hoping to pass the operations of the shop off to one of his employees. You can view the listing here. If you’re interested, you can reach out to Justin Grolley of Nery Corp. at j.grolley@nerycorp.com or call 508-990-9800.
Image Credits: The Ski House
