QueensPost
Jan. 16, 2018 By Christian Murray
An independent sports store that has been on Steinway Street for nearly 40 years is closing.
Atlantic Center & Sports, located at 32-90 Steinway Street, will be shutting its doors at the end of March, according to Angela Kapatos whose father owns and operates the sporting goods store.
The store, which specializes in hunting and fishing gear, was opened by Kapatos’ father, Nick Kapatos, in the early 1980s. The store has changed very little over the years, with the interior and awning remaining the same.
The landlord recently told Nick Kapatos that he wanted to raise the rent, Angela said, and that now he is in his 70s he decided to close. Nick, who lives in Astoria, is originally from Greece and moved to the United States in his early 20s.
“When the store opened it was very popular and there was nothing like it in the community,” Angela said.
She said that business has tapered off over the years.
“My dad’s going to retire,” she said. “But at least he’s retiring with the knowledge that he outlasted Sports Authority.”
Sports Authority closed in 2016.
Featured Events
24 Comments
Good luck MR.nick thank you for All the hunting & fishing tips, I went in to your store wen I was 15 & took my son to your store for his first fishing pole & hunting gear thanks
Hi nang,
No you are incorrect I do not have allot of free time on my hands and I do not understand how you could make a comment such as this when you do not know me.
Your comment has opened up the doors for me to tell you that I don’t think much of your generation, assuming that you are of the Y generation. Even though your generation thinks it knows everything about everything and tat your opinion is more valid. In
fact you know very little about anything and are immersed in FB, fake news, or complaining about something, for your generation is in belief that you are entitled. Your generation have their heads and faces so buried in electronic devices that you can’t find your way out of a wet paper bag if you did not have an app located on your smartphone. My family had ordered from FD years ago and no, I do not agree with you that its better. Its just easier for you for this allows you to use your phone app and smartphone to order and this is an example of feeding your addiction. I’m certainly not going to allow myself to have someone who is apparently a generation Y to try to convince me otherwise. For that is what the people of your generation does best. Spew your opinions around. Your generation is labeled to be lazy, selfish, and shallow. Need I say more!
I do not understand how you could make a comment such as this when you do not know the people you are criticizing.
#AstoriaRIP
God bless you in your Retirement. You can say to yourself, I did a good job. Now, it’s time to smell the roses.
Sad to hear this news.
People order everything on-line theses days. Its an addiction.
Next door neighbor who orders everything on-line saw me unloading my groceries from my car into my house. Neighbor suggested to me that I should order on-line from Fresh Direct. She has everything delivered. I told her that I like to shop for my groceries, to pick out my own meat and vegetables, etc… I like talking to my deli guy, and my pharmacist. I told her that I believe that people should buy from neighborhood stores as support to them. Our stores close and the storefronts become vacant and that is not at all good for our community. The storefronts stay vacant for a while and that brings crime. plus I like Mom and Pop stores. Companies such as Amazon want to throw every other business out of business and then eventually when they take over they will then replace their workers with robots and that is not good for our country.
You must have a lot of time on your hands or have nothing to do with your free time! I buy from Fresh Direct and the quality is better than anything you can find in a market around here. So one old hunting store closes and something more appealing to today generation opens. Get a grip!
You probably never worked a hard day in your life. So that’s why you will never understand that when you have something for so long you built from the ground up and managed to keep it open for that amount of time is a great accomplishment and to see it all go is very painful for some. Btw new age stores do not make it in this day and age most businesses that open in Astoria last about 1 year. Sometimes having the old mom and pop shops are better then having garbage new gen.
Things open and close with the times. Every smart business person will tell you that you must change with the current time and foreseeable future to stay in business. I know so many Greeks that sell tacos and bagels nowadays. Even the new younger Greek immigrants to Astoria prefer and enjoy trying new food and things unlike the older generation. They just still smoke to much and drink a lot of Frappe like the older generation did.
I have kids. I have a career . I’d rather go to the park and or run then get in the car, park , see that he store doesn’t have what I want . Amazon is trying to get people what they want and what they want if Curro shd fast . Robots have replaced many jobs just like computers replaced calligraphy . It is not Amazon’s fault . Things change .
Lol . I dictated to “the” Alexa . Needs work
Good luck nick. A guy from when astoria was astoria. Greeks , Italians. The best ! Well those days are gone. Astorias not a close knit neighborhood anymore. Now it sucks. All the Italians and Greeks left or are leaving. End of a beautiful era. It’s done.
Adios! I hope they take the smelly pork street food with them. But the pizza places can stay!
The smart ones left yeas ago before all the chaos and changes in Astoria! I rent my home and live on LI.
There will be numerous Astoria staples permanently locking their doors in the next couple of years.
Staples in Astoria is not closing.
Nick is a very wondeful and friendly man, and i have been getting my hunting license from him for years, im sad to see the store close. But also happy for his retirement and to enjoy the next part of his life , relaxing, i dont know where we will get our hunting licenses and last minute supplies from now
Nick was always nice, sad to see it close and I wish him the best on his retirement
how the hell do these shops even stay in business in today’s day and age?
They clearly don’t, hence the closing, you dolt. Trump needs to go after Amazon.
Go after one of the most successful companies in the world, that employee tens of thousands of people because stores that have seen there day are now closing?!!?
Why are you insulting me? The closing is due to the landlord increasing the rent and the owner wanting to retire. Are you incapable of reading?
I am very sad to see Nick close but everything good comes to a end eventually. I have been going there since I was a little kid with my grandfather and go in 2-3 times a year. After 25 years for me and more for others this man and store will truly be missed!
Patronizing a store twice a year isn’t going to keep it in business. A hunting and fishing store in Astoria just is not a viable business plan. Evolve or die.