“The fact that Kaufmann’s has shut their doors should give nobody in flyfishing any pleasure. The Kaufmann Brothers and their staff may have been the single most important shop in the history of the Pacific Northwest. Why they were overlooked in favor of other recipients of the cherished AFFTA Top Shop award has always been perplexing. Many of the current top mfg. reps, quite a few of the other shop owners/managers, and a lot of the great fly fishing personalities in California, Oregon, and Washington were once part of their operation.
In any event, this is definitely newsworthy and deserves an obituary that ranks right up there with the loss of Billy Pate.”
Mike Michalak, The Fly Shop
Is the apparent closure of one of the nation’s iconic fly retailers a harbinger of even worse things to come for the independent dealer?
Here’s a link to the Kaufmann’s story on Oregon Live. http://blog.oregonlive.com/windowshop/2011/04/kaufmanns_streamborn_fly_fishi.html
Angling Trade will certainly be digging into the facts on this one.
