Tale Of The Cod To Close Doors After 65 Years

 CHATHAM – William Haetinger recalls one summer when the golden cod that adorns the Tale of the Cod sign was stolen. At the time, the business was run by his parents, Dick and Flo Haetinger.

 The very next day, a young teenager, an Irish worker in town for the summer, sheepishly returned the cod and apologized. His father forgave the boy and the cod went back up on the sign.

 Since announcing that the Tale of the Cod is closing, Haetinger said a number of people have asked him about selling the sign. But it’s going with him.

 “I’m taking that with me,” he said in a recent telephone interview. “I’m not selling it. It’s been there forever.”

 Unable to find a buyer for the Tale of the Cod, Haetinger announced the store’s closure in October. 

 “The response by the community has been overwhelming,” he wrote in an email last month. “Everyone has been loving and supportive. We’ve heard old stories that made us laugh and even shared a tear or two.”

 The store was opened by Ted and Lucille Weinz in 1960, which is when the building that houses it at 450 Main St. was built. An addition was built in 1985 which doubled the retail space and added two apartments to the three in the original building.

 The Haetingers purchased the business and the property in 1979, and Tale of the Cod was to become a “family affair through and through,” William Haetinger said. He began working at the shop part-time in 1981 while he was also working for UPS. The new addition allowed the store to create a furniture department, and he started working full-time, including driving a new delivery van.

 Originally primarily a gift shop, Tale of the Cod’s merchandise evolved over time, Haetinger said, influenced by both his mother and wife Deb, built on what came before but also keeping up with the times. When the shop started carrying lampshades, “I ended up learning how to fix lamps as part of that,” he said.

Many of the display tables and other displays “have been around since Ted and Lucille,” he said.

 Haetinger’s children and many family members have worked at Tale of the Cod over the years, along with many friends and townspeople. He especially thanked longtime friend and manager Bess Howes, without whom “I would not have been able to persevere for so long.”

 “Everybody wants to say how much their mom or grandmother” enjoyed the store, he said. “It’s going to be missed.”

 He also thanked the town. “Chatham is a very special town in a beautiful part of the world, and it’s truly been a blessing to be a small part of the business community,” he said. “Our patrons have supported us year after year and it’s been a pleasure serving them.”

 Now at retirement age, Haetinger decided to close the store after not finding a buyer. The doors will remain open until the merchandise is gone. The sale of the property is scheduled to be finalized at the end of the month, though Haetinger declined to provide details. Assessed by the town at $2.2 million, it was previously advertised for sale for $4.5 million.

 “It took care of my family,” Haetinger said of the Tale of the Cod. “It’s been a good business.”