Johnny’s Bait and Tackle, End of an Era

Johnny Kronuch, left, owner of Johnny’s Bait and Tackle, stood with Tom Brown, who has been caring for the store’s neon sign for many years. The business is closing and the sign will go to Mr. Kronuch’s son.

T.E. McMorrow

Dec. 3, 2015

T.E. McMorrow

As the old neon sign for Johnny’s Bait and Tackle was lowered down by crane for the last time, an era came to an end on Montauk’s Main Street. “I’ll be 66 next month,” Johnny Kronuch said on Sunday. The store, with its sign that looks like it could have been put up by Carl Fisher himself, has been in Mr. Kronuch’s family since his father opened the shop about 70 years ago. Now, Mr. Kronuch is retiring and closing shop for good.

The sign, however, is staying in the family. “It’s going to my brother,” Emily Kronuch, Johnny Kronuch’s daughter, said, as she watched it being placed on the bed of the truck from North Shore Neon Sign Company.

It is not the first time that North Shore has taken the neon down. “We just repaired the sign,” Tom Brown, an executive of the company said.

Neon repair companies have become a rarity on Long Island, as companies switch to modern technology. Old family-owned businesses on Montauk’s Main Street are becoming rare, as well. “It’s depressing,” Ms. Kronuch said.

Mr. Kronuch declined to comment about his future plans.