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HANCOCK - In 1986, Rick Freeman walked into a business needing to get his shoes repaired. That business would become Northwoods Sporting Goods.

That chance occurrence led to Freeman taking over a shop that, 23 years later, has grown to sell everything from handguns to fishing supplies.

The business Freeman took over was a retail consignment shop; almost from the beginning, there was a small gun section in the back corner.

Over the next 18 years, that continued to grow.

"More people found out about us, and we started to grow a pretty good customer base," he said.

At the same time, the consignment portion of the business started to fall off. So in 2006, Freeman refashioned it as a sporting goods store.

They started building on their strength in firearms, then added fishing supplies. Archery equipment came in 2007, with a hunting clothing line following the next year.

"Since then, we've upgraded in all those areas," Freeman said.

That included adding crossbows in the wake of the Department of Natural Resources' decision to allow crossbow hunting for people more than 50 years old.

The business has grown from two employees to four - including Freeman's oldest son, Blake, a gunsmith.

"We're pretty much a family business," Freeman said. "Most of our employees are our sons."

Freeman, who was an officer with the Houghton County Sheriff's Department, had always had a desire to open a business. So when the owner of the building told him it was for sale that day in 1986, he decided to go for it.

"It turned out to be so big and time-consuming I had to get out of police work," though it's still a passion of his, Freeman said.

Freeman thinks the business's success has to do with their customer service, as well as the trust they've built up in the community.

"If I look you in the eye and tell you I'm going to do something for you, I'll do it," he said.

"Most people don't want to be BS'ed ... folks nowadays are very educated, and they understand a lot of things they may not have questioned years ago. Now they have a lot of questions about why things are the way they are, and we try to provide them with answers."

Customers come from a 100-mile radius, including from Mass City and Ontonagon. Also last year, the business launched a Web site, northwoodsports.com.

"If they didn't support us, we wouldn't be successful," Freeman said of his customers. "We have a real sincere thanks for our loyal customers for keeping us going."

Northwoods Sporting Goods is located at 120 Quincy St. in Hancock. The store can be reached at 482-5210.

Garrett Neese can be reached at gneese@mininggazette.com.