Anyone remember Fetlas in Valpo?

[.458socomhunter]

I remember going there as a kid until my late teens. Anything from milk to firearms. Shame they sold to criminals and all.

Does anyone know exactly how all that went down? I know there was a change in hands in the business somewhere in the process, and I think there is still a store in Knox.

I know after the place changed hands the selection was pretty terrible.

 

[Smoke]

Seems to me the mayor of Gary at the time had a nephew or grandson that was shot and killed and he claims the gun was bought there and was suing them. I heard that is what put them out of business. That was the story anyway.

 

[Leo]

I visited there about 30 years ago. I remember it as mostly disorganized and a mix of new, damaged and used. They had a lot of used lower end guns. Other places in the store you might find a used motorcycle helmet on shelves next to rat poison and underwear for 300 lb. women. The place was packed with people. Even though it was not my kind of place, I hate when politics and bad exercise of law takes a business out intead of the criminal.

 

[mrortega]

I visited there about 30 years ago. I remember it as mostly disorganized and a mix of new, damaged and used. They had a lot of used lower end guns. Other places in the store you might find a used motorcycle helmet on shelves next to rat poison and underwear for 300 lb. women. The place was packed with people. Even though it was not my kind of place, I hate when politics and bad exercise of law takes a business out intead of the criminal.

The next time I'm bored I'm going to look into some rat poisened 300lb underwear stuffed into a football helmet. Throw in a couple nuns, a German Shepherd and a tub of buttered popcorn and it could be a really neat party

 

[kjf40]

I bought my very first handgun there, was a Ruger GP100 blued w/ 6" barrel...was my dear hunting gun.

Years later i traded it for a mustang, i miss the gun!

 

[snowman]

I remember you could spend hours looking around in that place. I got lost in there and became scared!!!!!

 

[tmccorkel]

It was AWESOME!

Before they were busted by some undercover operation, and had to get rid of stuff, they had all sorts of really cool guns (at least I thought they were cool when I was younger)- tec-9's, uzi's, assault rifles everywhere, open crates of dirt-cheap mil surp rifles.. You know, all of the good stuff..

 

[oldfb]

Took two women to fetlas on separate occasions shopping for Xmas goodies. One turned her nose up at the place and the other was like I kid in a candy store. Guess which woman got the boot and which one I married. Lmao

 

[ghuns]

Took two women to fetlas on separate occasions shopping for Xmas goodies. One turned her nose up at the place and the other was like I kid in a candy store. Guess which woman got the boot and which one I married. Lmao

Good call Definitely a keeper. My dad used to take my brothers and me there. I'm sure it wasn't as big as I remember, but you spend hours walking around there. And the next time you'd come back, it was like there was all new/old/junk stuff to look at.

 

[Indy Wing Chun]

I was born and raised near Valpo. I loved Fetlas! I bought my first gun there too. I remember being in there once when I was a kid and they had a Tommy Gun just sitting out. I thought that was the coolest thing.

Fetlas was for the people that thought Wal-Mart was too uppity.

 

[sepe]

I remember going there as a kid until my late teens. Anything from milk to firearms. Shame they sold to criminals and all.

Does anyone know exactly how all that went down? I know there was a change in hands in the business somewhere in the process, and I think there is still a store in Knox.

I know after the place changed hands the selection was pretty terrible.

We tried to find it in Knox but there was nothing. I miss that store other than the selling to criminals and their shady gun show practices. I think ownership changed a few times within the family because of illegal sales. As far as what ran them out of Valpo, possibly many of their illegal acts.

I remember you could spend hours looking around in that place. I got lost in there and became scared!!!!!

I never felt quite right in that place. It might have been the mix of human trash, the set up of the store, or some of the staff. I could understand someone being a little scared/creeped out in there. It wasn't quite as creepy as Fat Daddy's in South Bend though. Creepy old guy, shell-shocked vet, VHS porn (possibly homemade), collapsing ceiling, buckled floor, shell-shocked vet thinking he needed to help you try on jackets and boots. If you made a purchase, old dude would give you stale pretzels and a 2 liter of some sort of off brand soda (some times you'd get RC or a name brand root beer).

 

[manygunsmike]

I have bought many guns from them and I loved tripping over the crates full of surplus rifles that were on the floor man I miss that !!

manygunsmike

 

[The Keymaster]

I used to but lots of different things there in my young adulthood. Cowboy boots, shoes, auto supplies, fishing tackle, my first pistol (Ruger Security Six), ammo. The place had a lot of stuff if you knew where to look. They even had a bear. That was really inhumane.

 

[Indy_Guy_77]

When I first started my first job (Aug of '01) and traveled throughout this fine state, Fetlas was still in business.

Every trip up that direction, I'd try and stop in just for a few minutes on a break from driving.

Then it turned out we didn't have any work in that area for several months. Next trip back up that direction... store closed. *sigh* Oh well!

Also, on one of my last trips to Valpo for work, we checked into a Holiday Inn Express...but checked out of a Best Western. Danged hotel changed brands over night!

-J-

 

[s&wluvr]

Don't know if it is fact or rumor, but I recall reading a post here that indicated that Blythe's had purchased the property and would be opening up a new range around April. Can anyone add anything or confirm this?

 

[warangelcometh]

What an awesome place Fetlas was
So many good memories as a kid. Bought several firearms from them back in the day. They had a great layaway policy.

 

[red_zr24x4]

Ahh Fetlas, you never knew what you'd find.
I bought a few handguns, a Mosin, and a M1 from them
The M1 I got, I got taken back into the "vault" and got to rummage through about 100 boxes of Arlington ordinance M1 Garands

 

[edporch]

I was in there a few times and they had some guns I liked.
But they were VERY over priced and struck me as a store for people who either had no ideas what a fair price was, or had more money than brains.
All I ever bought from them was one box of ammo.

 

[bloodandgutsmurphy]

I heard the primary reason the store closed down was because the owner of Fetla's wanted to retire and none of his kids wanted to take over the business. When he heard that none of his kids wanted the store he decided it was time to close the doors.
As far as the store in Knox goes I believe they went under the same time the Valpo store did.

 

[meyer4589]

I remember going there as a kid with my dad and just being in awe of the size and amount and variety of stuff they had in that place.

I was at the range over the weekend with my dad and he was shooting a .45 cal muzzle-loader and the box of round balls had a Fetla's price tag on it for 3.99 that same box today is close to 20 bucks