Bait shop holds soft opening

Tommy Snapp held a soft opening Saturday for his 4 Corners Bait, Tackle and Sporting Goods in Tucumcari, though it will be at least a few more weeks until it has a full selection of offerings for outdoorsmen.

Snapp was selling hunting and fishing licenses at the shop in a century-old building at 111 W. Main St., plus tags for duck hunting.

Within minutes after opening Saturday, he rang up his first sale - a bag of jerky from a local company, Jerk of All Trades.

He has targeted July 6 as a full opening date, when he hopes to also offer live bait and fishing equipment.

When asked why he picked Saturday as his soft opener, he replied with a laugh: "It's as good of a day as any."

When asked why he chose bait and tackle to start a business, he said hunting and fishing remains among his favorite hobbies.

Then Snapp turned serious.

"Tucumcari needs this. There's no bait or tackle shops here. There's nobody selling fishing or hunting licenses here in Quay County," he said.

"I tell everybody this, and I believe it in all my heart: We don't need big industry; we need mom-and-pop businesses," Snapp continued. "If everybody would take a piece of Walmart and open up a store, we wouldn't need Walmart. We don't need Kmart. We need individuals that are willing to face their fears and open a business. I'm 51 years old, and I'm starting a business."

He said he's in the process of buying the building and a vacant lot just to the east of it.

Snapp caused a stir less than a week before his opening when he removed a false facade from the building, showing the curves and accents of the original facade beneath. He estimated by the type of the metal on the false front, the original facade had been hidden for at least 60 years.

Snapp said he knew the original facade would be special, but it surprised even him once it was revealed.

"I could see it from the very back of the building when I got up on the roof," he said. "But I didn't know the (facade) impressions, those circles, were there."

Snapp said the building once housed one-half of Calhoun's department store that later moved across the street. (The other half of Calhoun's is a vacant lot.) Later, it was a Sears catalog store, then a ceramics business for a few years before it closed in 2008.

One of those leftover ceramics in the building was an angel, which Snapp placed on the front counter.

"That angel is memory of my mother. My mother loved angels," he said.

Snapp said it's taken a lot of work to get the building in semi-operating order, and it's a work in progress. A handwritten sign behind the counter reads "Please excuse our mess ... still under construction." He hopes to eventually restore the front windows and entrance destroyed by a hit-and-run driver in 2016.

When asked how long it would take to restore the building, Snapp replied with a chuckle: "Probably the rest of my life."

Snapp hasn't determined his operating hours at 4 Corners, though he noted he has to be open at least 20 hours a week because state regulations require it for those selling hunting and fishing licenses. He said he probably would take Tuesdays and Wednesdays off because area fishing tournaments run from Saturday through Monday.

Snapp went through Tucumcari MainStreet's FORGE business accelerator program, which he said was informative.

"I would recommend it for any business owner," he said. "Even for those already in business, I'd go through it. It's good to have a refresher course. It covers all the bases you need to know for business."

Connie Loveland, executive director of Tucumcari MainStreet, brought Snapp a cookie that read "Gone Fishin'" in icing a few minutes after he opened Saturday.

"We're extremely proud of Connie going through our Tucumcari FORGE program," she said. "This is a business that will serve not only Tucumcari, but the lakes. We're proud of our local entrepreneurs stepping up, going through these courses and opening their own businesses. It's good for Tucumcari."

Loveland said five entrepreneurs are going through FORGE now, and the next series of classes will begin in mid-August.