Sparky’s Sport Shop in Colby changes hands with purchase by Jim Oliveri

BY NEAL HOGDEN

TRIBUNE PHONOGRAPH

A new face has stepped into a hometown store as Sparky’s Sport Shop was recently sold to a new owner.

Jim Oliveri, formerly of Illinois, retired from the information technology business and decided to purchase Sparky’s Sport Shop from Mike Preisinger over the summer. Oliveri moved to Colby in early October and will look to bring his love for shooting and working with guns to the Colby area.

Oliveri is originally from New York but most recently, he lived in Crystal Lake, Ill. When asked why he chose to move to small town Colby after living in a suburb of Chicago, he said there were a couple of motivations for him to make such a drastic change.

“My son lives in Hudson so we were looking for something close to him,” Oliveri said. “I have another son in Michigan so we were looking over there as well but then this place popped up.”

His transition to becoming a Wisconsinite might have been boosted by his disdain for Illinois.

“We wanted to move back to the United States, Illinois is not part of the United States,” he joked. “[Going from a metropolitan area to Colby] has been fine because a rural area is exactly what I wanted.”

Oliveri said he is a retired information technology specialist, but he has always had a love for anything pertaining to guns. He said he retired from the information technology field because the job was starting to feel like a job. It didn’t take him long to find another passion that he could turn into a career.

He has been a competitor in various professional shooting leagues which have ranged from pistol to rifle shooting leagues. He has competed in rifle, marksmanship, pistol bullseye, pistol action which also include competing in the United States Practical Shooting Association competitions. This love for competitive shooting had Oliveri looking to purchase a gun range not only for his own personal use, but for the ability to bring a community together through shooting sports.

“I wanted a piece of property that I could set up a small range on because I love to shoot,” Oliveri said. “We looked at a lot of different places where we either liked the house or liked the property but we couldn’t find the perfect spot. We actually gave up looking and wanted to pick it up again in 2023.”

Soon after, Oliveri’s realtor called and said there was a property that had a gun range built in and might be perfect for what he was looking for. Jim came up and took a look at it and decided to make Preisinger an offer.

Oliveri said Preisinger agreed to sell Jim the property but he told Jim that if he planned on buying it, he would need to keep the pistol and shotgun ranges open so leagues could continue. Jim said that was no problem because he is semi-retired and had time to facilitate the leagues.

Jim admitted he isn’t the most avid hunter but said he used to hunt when he previously lived in New Mexico and said he would be hoping to start going again.

“I used to hunt,” Oliveri said. “I hunted deer, antelope and elk in New Mexico. In Illinois, I hunted deer once but I wasn’t used to hunting from a stand. I haven’t hunted in awhile and I hope to get back into it.”

The Sparky’s Sport Shop name will stay for now but Jim said his company, Papa O’s Gun Farm, LLC, will be displayed on the Sparky’s Sport Shop sign out front at some point.

The name of the company comes from his grandkids who call him Papa O. Now, being closer to his kids and grandkids, Oliveri is looking forward to a two-hour drive as opposed to the five or six hour drive he had while he lived in Illinois.

Currently, Oliveri is waiting for more scopes, slings, cases and other accessories to come in but he said he is applying for a new Federal Firearms License which could take up to five months to get. Oliveri will not be able to sell firearms until that point but he said he is still able to work on guns, mount scopes and do any other number of jobs.

Oliveri has been working on sighting in rifles for clients who had Preisinger doing the same for them under

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the previous ownership. He also said he has experience replacing parts and accessories on guns. Over the past couple of weeks and months, Jim has spent some time with Preisinger learning about Colby and the store’s client base.

“I’m hoping I can keep people as happy as Mike did,” Oliveri said. “We went out together a couple of times and wherever we went, everybody knew him and was happy to see him. I’m hoping to build that same type of relationship with the community.”

If you need a hunting or fishing license, Jim said he needs his login from the DNR yet but he expects to be able to sell licenses starting the first week of November. Jim said the ranges are open for use and his limited stock of accessories and ammunition is available for purchase.

Club members can use the ranges for free while the general public can use the pistol range for a $12 fee and the rifle range for $7. Starting in November, Jim will begin selling memberships for those interested again. Jim is hoping to host a grand opening sometime in November.

Stop by the store at W327 County Rd N in Colby or give Jim a call at 715-223-3256 to see what hunting needs Sparky’s can help you with.