Russ Gohl, right, owner, and Darryl Revier, general manager, of Hwy 83 Lawn, Leisure & Tools are shown in the new business located along U.S. Highway 83 near the Six Mile Corner east of Garrison. Eloise Ogden/MDN

GARRISON – What started as a place for boat storage developed into Hwy 83 Lawn, Leisure & Tools, owned by Russ and Jeanne Gohl and located along U.S. Highway 83 near the Six Mile Corner (intersection of Highway 83 and N.D. Highway 37) east of Garrison.

Hwy 83 Lawn, Leisure & Tools opened April 2. A welding shop will open later and there’s also a warehouse.

“It started out we were just going to store boats and it just grew from there,” said Russ Gohl.

The store is 9,000 square feet, the welding shop next door to the store is 3,200 square feet, and there’s 4,000 square feet of warehouse.

The store is open from 5:30 in the morning until 5:30 at night Monday through Friday and 5:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

“We have a complete line of bait and tackle, we’re a dealer for Green Mountain grills, Toro mowers, T & E Tools, and then we have a full line of automotive chemicals, oils, batteries,” he said. There are also surplus tools and many other surplus items.

“There’s quite an assortment of shop tools and hand tools,” Gohl said.

Of the surplus merchandise, he said, “A lot of it is brand spanking new.”

“A decorative windmill in green and gold John Deere colors stood amidst other merchandise in the store, attracting visitors who dropped by just to look around prior to the store’s opening.

“I got six of them and that’s the only one left,” he said of the windmill, several days prior to opening. A couple rows of the Adirondack chairs also already had been sold.

Gohl said the store will also be a Yamaha golf cart dealer but due to COVID-19 the golf carts won’t arrive until approximately June.

The business has four full-time employees. When the welding shop opens up eventually, there will be a couple more employees.

“We’ll have a full-time small engine mechanic on staff,” Gohl said. He said there’s also a digital marketing person on staff. Darryl Revier, of Coleharbor, is general manager.

The store has a Facebook page at facebook.com/hwy83. A website is being developed.

Work on the building, located on the west side of Highway 83, started last June. Gohl said the work was done by local contractors.

Besides customers from the surrounding area, he said, “I hope to draw people from Bismarck and Minot.”