Bing 'N' Bob's under new but familiar ownership

Legacy Havre Business Bing 'N' Bob's is under new ownership with long-time employee Matt Sasaki and his wife, Cindy, taking over the 75-year-old sporting goods store.

Matt Sasaki said he's been working at the business for 21 years, taking over earlier this month from previous owner Jim Evans, and is looking to keep the store going more or less as it has been for all of his time there.

Sasaki said he's been coming to Bing 'N' Bob's for practically his entire life, introduced to the store by his father, Larry, whom he always went hunting with.

In 2003 he joined the business and has been a consistent presence in the store for the last two decades of the storied business.

Bing 'N' Bob's was started in 1948 by Glen "Bing" Crosby and Bob Durkee in the location that is now Wells Fargo Bank.

In 1953 Crosby left the business with Durkee and his wife Katherine taking sole ownership, and two years later they moved to a new location next to the Palace Bar on First Street.

In 1960 long-time employee Frank Kops, who worked there from 1949 to 1953 before joining the U.S. Navy, and returned to work there in 1957, became a partner in the business along with his wife, Joyce.

They became the full owners in 1974, and in 1979 moved the store again, into its current location 316 Third St.

In 2003 the business was purchased by Bill Evans and Jim Evans, who owned Evan's Optical and combined both businesses in the same building.

Bill Evans would retire in 2018 and Jim Evans became full owner of the two businesses, though Evans Optical would close in December of 2022, ending that business' 42 year history.

Sasaki said Bing 'N' Bob's has a long history and, while he's been working there a long time, it's seen plenty of changes before he started there.

Before his time working there, he said, it was a more general sporting goods store, selling gym clothes, basketball and baseball equipment, sports shoes and more.

He said he remembers getting baseball gloves there when he was a child, but between then and the start of his career there, they had narrowed their focus to mostly hunting and fishing equipment: rods, reels, guns, scopes, outdoor apparel and the like.

He said that isn't going to change as far as he can see, and indeed he's not looking to change much at all.

Sasaki said they're going to update some signage and might do some remodeling at some point down the line if it's necessary, but the business is doing just fine as it is so he sees little reason to change it.

"Just getting my feet wet and keeping it going," he said.

He said things have been good and busy since he started, and for the most part his job hasn't changed much, aside from having some more paperwork to do.

He said his wife, Cindy, is doing most of the office management which has left him free to manage the shop as normal for the most part.

Sasaki said he wants to help maintain the store's inviting atmosphere and keep helping local hunters, fishers and sportsmen find what they need.