Loretta Severson, of Staley & Sons Gun Repair, stands in front of some of the store’s stock in Waldoboro. (Alexander Violo photo)
A business with a long history in Waldoboro will soon open its doors to the community once again.
Staley & Sons Gun Repair, of 58 Staley Lane, a short distance from Route 32 in Waldoboro, will reopen on Monday, April 11.
Loretta Severson, of Staley & Sons, said she is looking forward to the reopening and the store is going to offer more stock and more handguns. Severson said another addition to the store will be that of a new gunsmith, her husband, Andrew Severson.
She said the store offers a variety of rifles and handguns and tries to be conscious of customers’ budgets.
“We tried to find handguns within people’s price ranges,” Severson said.
The original sign from Staley & Sons Gun Repair in Waldoboro is still present in the store. (Alexander Violo photo)
Severson cited a love of hunting as the inspiration that led to the creation of the family business started by her grandfather.
“It really started as a love of hunting. That’s the thing that got Staley & Sons started,” Severson said.
She said her grandfather, Leslie Staley, moved to Waldoboro, to the property where the current store is located, in 1974 from New Jersey and began working as a gunsmith in the area.
Severson said the combination of her grandfather’s avid interest in the outdoors and his military background were also factors in the business’s beginnings.
Initially, Leslie Staley worked on guns for people in the area and for the police department, of which he was a member.
Loretta Severson’s father and Leslie Staley’s son, Sonny Staley, also played an active part in the business through the years and people still call looking for Sonny to fix their firearms.
Sonny Staley passed away on Oct. 31, 2015 following a long battle with cancer.
The store stayed open through hunting season and before Christmas, shutting down on Dec. 24, 2015 so the family could regroup and see if they could keep the store running.
Loretta Severson said with the licenses in order and her husband taking on the role of gunsmith, the store is prepared to open again.
She remembers the store as an important part of her childhood in Waldoboro.
“I remember nearly every Christmas getting a rifle of some sort,” she said.
She reflected on the time spent in the backyard conducting target practice on gallon jugs of water atop an old jeep.
“We shot millions of rounds down in the back field,” she said.
She said the range adjacent to the shop got its start when her grandfather would test-fit and sight firearms out back and her dad went on to set up a makeshift range.
Loretta Severson said work will be done on the existing range to improve customers’ experience.
“We are going to try to make it more user and environmentally friendly,” she said.
She said the range has different areas for different calibers and she is looking forward to seeing visitors to the shop utilize it again.
“I think it will be a really nice setup,” Severson said.
She said gun safety was very important to her grandfather and father and it will remain a focus of the business.
“You have to be out there practicing with the firearm to get familiar with it and you need to know gun safety laws,” she said.
She said down the road Staley & Sons might offer reloading classes.
Reloading, the process of reusing cases of spent ammunition, is quite popular among target shooters due to the savings it offers over buying new ammo.
Loretta Severson said reloading is also beneficial since it offers marksmen a chance to customize their rounds.
“You can get exactly the right ammo you want for your gun,” she said.
In addition to firearms, Staley & Sons plans to offer hunting supplies, including turkey calls, deer calls, and targets, including motion targets made of steel that ring out when struck.
She said there will be a clearance rack when the store reopens filled with a number of discounted items.
She said initially the store will be open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
