It's game over for Ridgewood's Referee Store after business moves to Long Island

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The Referee Store in Ridgwood has relocated to Ronkonkoma. Eagle file photo by David Brand

The Referee Store in Ridgwood has relocated to Ronkonkoma. Eagle file photo by David Brand

By David Brand

The whistles have gone silent and the clock has run out. It’s game over for New York City’s only referee-specific apparel and equipment shop.

The quirky Referee Store, made (somewhat) famous by the HBO show “How to With John Wilson,” permanently moved from residential Ridgewood to an industrial park in Ronkonkoma earlier this year. A For Rent sign recently appeared on the storefront, where mannequins in brightly-colored jerseys and crisp black shorts, the kind worn by soccer officials, once stood sentry.

Owner Rafal Wlazlo, a former high-level referee, said he decided to relocate the business because he needed a larger space to accommodate both the Referee Store and a new aquarium company he owns. The two stores operate out of a 5,000-square-foot warehouse in Suffolk County.

“The price per square footage of doing it in the boroughs would be much higher,” he said. 

The move also makes Wlazlo’s commute easier. After spending the last 15 years in Ridgewood, he and his family bought a new home in Long Island this year. 

Wlazlo said he has yet to watch his shop’s cameo on How to With John Wilson — a six-episode documentary-style comedy series that features the idiosyncratic businesses, people, locations and phenomena that make New York City unique. Wilson, a Ridgewood resident, often uses the neighborhood as his muse, filming shots inside Joe’s Restaurant on Forest Avenue and Artistic Neon on Cypress Avenue, for example. 

The Referee Store visit leads Wilson to a soccer referees’ convention inside a small Long Island community center, where attendees stockpile cans of soda and a guy with connections to the event host dubiously wins the door prize — a new television.

The shop, formerly located at the corner of Himrod Street and Fairview Avenue, was the only referee-specific store in New York City before it moved in April. The company specializes in soccer, but also outfits basketball zebras and baseball umps, too. “Officiating is not just a job. It’s a LIFESTYLE,” the company’s Facebook page declares.

Even before COVID, the vast majority of Wlazlo’s customers ordered online, he said.

Thus, the residential character of that part of Ridgewood — a 15-minute walk from the closest subway stop — did not pose a problem, he said.

“The lack of walk-in traffic was no issue. We cater to referees nationwide,” he said. “We’re primarily an e-commerce business.”

Before founding the store across from his home five years ago, he said he watched at least four companies open and then close at the corner spot. A deli, a 99 cent store and a “psychic reading place” all went under. A security guard licensing firm outgrew the small space, he said.

Wlazlo mused about the potential for a soccer-themed bar, which could cater to Western Queens football fans and the players who pack nearby Grover Cleveland Park for pick-up games and league matches every weekend. 

“Soccer is alive and well in that part of Queens, but it’s such a long shot to get something viable over there,” he said. “But you never know what’s going to happen in the future. A small bar could do well.”

As for Wlazlo, he continues visiting his former hometown and keeping up with the local soccer scene and the referees on the rise. He said he will be following Queensboro FC, the borough’s new professional soccer club, when they begin play next year.

“At heart, we’re still from Queens,” he said.