The team-issued, red Converse ‘Chucks’ never made it out of the box my senior basketball season at Waynesburg Central. Instead, my teammates and I coaxed our parents into giving us money for a new brand of basketball shoes called Adidas. What was even cooler was the fact we could now buy the prized beauties in town. It was 1977, and we no longer had to make the trip to Weber’s in Washington for all things athletic. A new store called Ron’s Locker Room had appeared in the Hillcrest Shops (Now Victoria’s Square). After entering the building, we made our way past McCall’s Men’s Store, Jean Jungle, Barnhart’s Shoes, and The Lettuce Patch Restaurant to reach our new sports Mecca.
Ron Lohr, a former star athlete at West Greene, opened the store with his wife Daunice. In addition to Adidas, The Locker Room offered a new product line by a company named Nike. After three successful years at that location, a fire in one of the neighboring stores damaged a great deal of the couple’s merchandise. At that time, they decided to sell the business to two of Ron’s softball buddies.
Rick Joseph, was an accountant at Cumberland mine, and Don Chappel was a roof-bolter at Emerald mine. The two had played football together at Waynesburg College. In October of 1980, they purchased the business and moved the store to 8 West High Street, which was the front of the Fort Jackson Hotel. They replaced Mickey’s Men’s Store after that historic business relocated across the street to its current location. Initially, they did not give up their day jobs and split time at the store. However, by 1984, business was thriving to such an extent, they decided to open a second store in Morgantown. They had even selected a location in the original Boston Beanery plaza. However, the second location never materialized due to the fact that Joseph’s job was eliminated after Cumberland was bought out and restructured. The two decided he would purchase Chappel’s half of the business and concentrate on the Waynesburg location full-time.
During this time, the store was also the unofficial headquarters of the legendary Toilet Bowl that featured alumni of Waynesburg High School and College in a Christmas Day battle of once and never athletes. The well-attended series was waged for over a decade from the early 70s to the late 80s. The tradition started when the Joseph brothers (Rick and T.J.) and the Morgan brothers (Dan, Mark and Matt) gathered their friends to compete in a touch football game. The kick-off occurred immediately after everyone’s family holiday responsibilities had been met. One of the best parts of the tradition was naming the teams and designing the uniforms. The sartorial trash talking would begin around Thanksgiving. Each year the “old guys” (They were in their 20’s and 30’s) would create hilariously irreverent designs for their Ancient Orange and Golden Oldies squads. The college-age youngsters would try to match the humor of their elders with clever shirts for the Blue Ewes and Raging Swine. To this day, some local septuagenarians have those jerseys proudly tucked away in the back of their closets. Believe it or not, these games were actually reported in the local newspapers with all the tongue in cheek reverence such a spectacle deserved. For a generation of men (including myself), the Toilet Bowl, the Fourth of July softball team parties, the road trips to away Steeler games, and other such traditions were a cornerstone of our younger years. All of those memories were created, sponsored and run by The Locker Room.
The business continued to thrive and eventually moved to its current location at 121 East High Street in 1995. The move was necessitated after the county purchased the Fort Jackson Building for government operations. The store’s new location had previously been the district magistrate’s office. For almost two decades, Joseph and his wife Barb continued to provide the area with all its athletic needs. In 2014, another Waynesburg College alum took over the store upon Joseph’s retirement. T.R. Mahle had also taken on a career change after Gabriel Brothers was purchased by a competitor. Mahle had worked as a Human Resources manager for the company for 19 years. Although the ownership changed, the commitment to personal attention and community involvement remained the same. The retail world at large had expanded to include massive sports box stores and online behemoths; however, The Locker Room nimbly adjusted its product line to remain relevant. Moreover, the personal aspects of the store allowed it to remain a cornerstone in the local economy. As Mahle puts it, “Neither of those two entities can duplicate the feeling of walking into The Locker Room and talking to someone who knows exactly what you need because we played on those same fields and courts.” He continues, “With very limited coverage of Greene County sports by the local media, the ritual of hanging out at our store and reviewing and dissecting last night’s game over a cup of coffee is important for a lot of people. It’s also the only way they can exaggerate their accomplishments when they played,” he says with a chuckle.
Every small town in America has a local establishment that serves a dual role as a business and a cultural hub, where the real currency is information and civic pride. In Greene County, that role has been filled by The Locker Room for over 40 years. During those decades, coaches, parents, and students gathered there to find the gear and apparel that created life-long memories. Is there a bigger rite of passage for a young athlete than slipping on his or her letter jacket? In addition to those milestone transactions, the store has been a perennial sponsor of charity golf tournaments and multiple youth teams. Perhaps more importantly, it has served as a community cheerleader and conduit of athletic knowledge. In the age of impersonal e-commerce, The Locker Room’s legacy endures as one of the last vestiges of a real community-based business in the downtown area.
As of this month, Direct Results has decided to carry on this tradition and shepherd it into the 21st century. Pam and Kent Marisa and their staff have embraced a mission to return the county’s sports heritage to its halcyon days by merging the spirit of the past with the technology of today. The plan is to create a holistic venture designed to incorporate print, digital and retail aspects into an entity that is both traditional and modern. The journey has begun with a deeply discounted sale of The Locker Room’s current inventory to make way for a new line of products. However, they vow to continue to offer the specialized merchandise and service that customers have grown to love.