Rods, Lures, And Mid-Century Furniture? Dream Fishing Tackle Offers Unlikely Combination From Greenpoint Father And Daughter
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – What began as a store for fishing equipment has grown into something more.
On a Greenpoint, Brooklyn sidewalk, beneath a red awning that reads, "Always one fish ahead," stacks of colorful mid-century furniture sit on display. Inside, beside the fishing rods, a collection of vinyl includes reggae from the Heptones and hard rock from Zior.
Dream Fishing Tackle first opened in 1999 as a shop for fishing equipment when Robert Piskorski, a native of Warsaw, Poland and a carp angler in his spare time, decided to turn his passion into a profession.
Over the decades, as e-commerce took over his corner of the fishing industry, he began to downsize, offering space at the front of his shop to his daughter Barbara, who was looking to get into retail herself. A self-proclaimed furniture obsessive, she had amassed a collection too large to keep.
"That kind of just grew over time. Furniture takes up a lot of space," she said.
Robert's interest in music yielded a stack of records beside the wall of fishing hooks.
"It kind of all collided together," Barbara said.
In the early days of the shop's transformation, customers were surprised.
"They were making types of comments like, 'Oh, it's kind of weird,'" Robert said.
But regulars came to accept and love the unlikely combination.
Barbara's offbeat and vibrant collection includes posters, fruit bowls, and even mannequins. She likes how her wares look alongside her dad's.
"Fishing equipment has a great assortment of texture and color," she said.
Customers, some shopping for lures, others for lamps, often mingle in the aisles. Barbara says they have more in common than one might think.
"People who have a love for fishing also have a very artistic and creative mind," she said.
At Dream Fishing Tackle, she aims to provide an escape from reality.
"I don't want people to come in and feel like they have to buy something," she said. "I want people to come in and feed the brain with new ideas, inspiration."
She believes everything in the shop should be special.
"I also want people to come in here and feel like they found something," she said. "The hunt is always the best part."
Dream Fishing Tackle
673 Manhattan Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11222
(718) 389-9670
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