![\"Bernie's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/A043_20250904__Erica-Price.jpg\")
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Bernie\u2019s Bait and Tackle keeps a year-round staff of 13 \u2014 a rarity for a 70-year-old neighborhood shop that prides itself on longtime employees and close community ties.<\/p>\n
Photo by Erica Price<\/p>\n
As Brooklyn celebrates Small Business Saturday<\/a>, one Sheepshead Bay mainstay is marking a milestone few neighborhood shops reach. Bernie\u2019s Bait and Tackle<\/a> \u2014 an anchor of Emmons Avenue\u2019s working waterfront \u2014 turns 70 this year, celebrating seven decades of serving generations of local anglers, boat captains and families looking to connect with the shoreline.<\/p>\n \u201cThe store has been here 70 years,\u201d Mike Giordano, co-owner of Bernie\u2019s Bait and Tackle, told Brooklyn Paper. The shop was first opened in 1955 by founder Bernie Schwartz \u2014 \u201chence the name Bernie\u2019s,\u201d Giordano said.<\/p>\n Nearly 30 years later, in 1983, it was purchased by Ralph and Jimmy Giordano. Today, ownership has transitioned again within the family, with Michael and Vincent Giordano running the shop.\n<\/p>\n \u201cSo it\u2019s basically been in two families for the entirety of its existence,\u201d he said.\n<\/p>\n That continuity is part of what has shaped Bernie\u2019s into a rare type of neighborhood business \u2014 one rooted in deep local knowledge, long-term relationships and a genuine commitment to anyone who steps through the door.<\/p>\n Bernie\u2019s carries a full line of fishing essentials, from rods and reels to freshwater and saltwater tackle, and prides itself on customization. Its signature line, Weekend at Bernie\u2019s, has become a top seller beyond its borders. Giordano said, \u201cWe ship them all over the country\u201d through the shop\u2019s e-commerce site.<\/p>\n Community involvement is another core part of the operation. Bernie\u2019s regularly donates supplies to fishing clubs, boat groups, school raffles and youth trips.\n<\/p>\n \u201cWe try to do anything for kids,\u201d Giordano said. \u201cAny boats that will do anything with schools, we\u2019ll happily donate.\u201d\n<\/p>\n The shop operates with a staff of 13, including employees who have been with Bernie\u2019s for decades.\n<\/p>\n \u201cSome guys have been working here for as much as 40 years,\u201d Giordano said. \u201cI take a lot of pride in the fact that we have been here so long. We do everything that we can to improve with the times, but we still have that old school feel.\u201d<\/p>\n The mix of history and expertise, he said, is what sets Bernie\u2019s apart \u2014 especially in a retail landscape increasingly defined by big-box sporting goods stores and online giants.\n<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s not a thing that the larger stores could do better than us. There\u2019s just not,\u201d Giordano said. \u201cWe do support small businesses and hope that everyone would also support them when they have the opportunity.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe appreciate every single person that comes in here and sincerely believe that we do that every single day,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bernie\u2019s Bait and Tackle keeps a year-round staff of 13 \u2014 a rarity for a 70-year-old neighborhood shop…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47539,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[36],"tags":[26951,98,26952,26953,100,99,26954,26955,26956,26957,9,24,12,370,63,26958,26959,26960],"class_list":["post-47538","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brooklyn","tag-bernieu2019s-bait-and-tackle","tag-brooklyn","tag-brooklyn-community-news","tag-brooklyn-fishing-shops","tag-brooklyn-headlines","tag-brooklyn-news","tag-brooklyn-waterfront","tag-emmons-avenue-businesses","tag-fishing-tackle-shops-nyc","tag-local-business-profiles","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-news","tag-newsletter","tag-nyc","tag-sheepshead-bay-small-businesses","tag-small-business-saturday-brooklyn","tag-weekend-at-bernieu2019s-lures"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47538","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47538"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47538\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47539"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47538"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47538"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47538"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/A047_20250904__Erica-Price.jpg\")
Bernie\u2019s Bait and Tackle has served Sheepshead Bay for 70 years, becoming a fixture of Brooklyn\u2019s working waterfront.File photo by Erica Price ![\"Bernie's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/A039_20250904__Erica-Price.jpg\")
Bernie\u2019s business provides a wide-range of fishing and tackle equipment in their store and website, which ships goods nationwide.Photo by Erica Price<\/p>\n![\"Bernie's](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/A041_20250904__Erica-Price.jpg\")
Bernie\u2019s offers products beyond fishing equipment.Photo by Erica Price ![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/A044_20250904__Erica-Price.jpg\")
At 70 years old, Bernie\u2019s Bait and Tackle stands out as one of Brooklyn\u2019s longest-running family businesses.Photo by Erica Price<\/p>\n