MARIETTA – The decision to close a longtime fixture at Third and Putnam streets did not come easy for Marietta resident Ken Stollar.

Fish N’ Stuff, the business Stollar opened in 1976, officially closed its doors on Saturday, moving the entire inventory of fish, small animals and supplies to Belpre Aquarium.

“I can’t even drive by that corner anymore,” Stollar said with a tinge of sadness in his voice. “I hated to do it – it’s something I’ve been stewing over the past few months.”

Marietta councilwoman Kathy Downer said she was sad to hear of the closing.

“My kids used to love to go there; we would visit the shops downtown and then walk a little farther to Fish N’ Stuff,” she said. “They used to love to see the snakes, they know I hate snakes.”

But despite the memories many in the community may have, business is not what it once was, with Stollar citing a lack of parking as an issue.

“I had a lot of customers tell me they just couldn’t find anywhere (close by) to park; my wife even went to the city to talk to them about it,” Stollar said.

Another longtime business owner, Rita Schultheis with R.V.S Art and Frames at 222 Putnam St., said she has heard the same complaints about parking from customers and is upset about seeing her neighbor of 28 years leave the area.

“I hate to see them go, we’ve both been here a long time, but parking is an issue,” she said.

Schultheis said her customers have the option of parking on the street or using the city lots and walking. She expressed concern for pedestrians, however, with construction on Third Street relating to the Peoples Bank Theatre and recent construction at the St. Clair building impacting the alley between her business and the Parking Partners lot.

Ultimately, the decrease in foot traffic and customers preferring the convenience of a shopping center led Stollar to pack up and move to his already-established business in the Belpre Shopping Plaza.

“We have plenty of parking over there,” he said. “We thought about moving to a shopping center here (in Marietta) and looked at some other places but we were at this location for a long time.”

Building owner Dan Stephan of Williamstown said they don’t have any immediate plans for the vacant storefront in downtown Marietta.

The Belpre store has 3,000 gallons of fresh water fish, 1,000 gallons of salt water fish and supplies for everything from hamsters to lizards. Stollar said his son Brian will be taking over some of the operations. The three employees of Fish N’ Stuff will not be moving to Belpre Aquarium, according to Stollar.

“I have always had wonderful employees who worked hard,” he said. “We tried like the devil to hang on because we always thought Marietta needed a small, nice pet store.”