Family death, illness leads to decisions
Midwest Sporting Goods, a 77-year-old Fort Smith business, is in the process of closing.
The store at 1310 Zero St. has no set timeline for closing, but is clearing inventory in preparation for a possible closing.
The decision to close comes shortly after the death of the store's long-time co-owner David Whitson.
Linda Whitson Sirmon, co-owner, said her brother died Sept. 17 and her sister, Jonsye Bailey, is ill. Sirmon said without her brother and sister to help run the store and no children interested in keeping it going, she has no choice but to close.
What would become Midwest Sporting Goods was founded by DC Whitson on Garrison Avenue in 1940 as a seed store on the site of today's Bricktown Brewery. He grew it at Midwest Hardware & Supply at 924 Garrison Ave., but gave up hardware and focused on sporting goods once Sears & Roebuck came to town, according to his great-grandson Chris Whitson.
Business was in Whitson's blood. DC Whitson's father, Cal Whitson, a Deputy US Marshal and farmer, ran a grocery store in the early 1900s on Mill Creek, what is now the southeast corner of Phoenix and Towson avenues in Fort Smith.
In addition to local history, the one-eyed lawman who led Judge Isaac C. Parker was among the inspirations for Charles Portis' character “True Grit” Rooster Cogburn. Al Whitson, Cal Whitson's great-grandson, said Portis informed his mother after the book was published that Rooster Cogburn was “a composite of several deputy marshals”. Cal Whitson did not wear an eye patch, but he lost his left eye and wore a hat low to the left.
Midwest Sporting Goods moved in 1991 to Park Plaza, 3400 Rogers Ave., near Creekmore Park, Sirmon said. Faulty wiring caused a fire that destroyed the business shortly afterwards. A 1991 police report initially said the fire was caused by a coffee maker, Sirmon noted. The store moved to Zero Street in the early 1990s. There were once three locations, including a store in Van Buren.
DC Whitson died in 1975. His son, Herman Whitson, brought the business back to life after the fire and ran it until his death in 2000. He was inducted into the Fort Smith Boys Club Hall of Fame in 1995. Sirmon said she came to to work for the family business in 1977. Both Herman and DC Whitson are buried in Oak Cemetery overlooking the ball fields at Hunts Park.
Midwest Sporting Goods has been an integral part of local school sports and independent leagues for more than 75 years.
“It was one of the few places where you could order almost anything because of long-standing relationships with all the top sports brands on the planet,” Chris Whitson wrote in a Post on Facebook about the store. “If you play sports (especially softball) in the River Valley, there are some who will say you owe that experience to Midwest, Kerwin (since closed) and their respective families. If your family has been in the area for generations, they've relied on these stores not only for their sporting goods, but potentially tools, groceries, animal feed and more.”
