While much of Monroeville changed around it, Ralph’s Army Surplus store has been a mainstay on William Penn Highway for nearly seven decades.
Founded by Ralph Bonn in 1955, the one-story building offers all manner of Army surplus gear including sleeping bags, canteens, hand warmers, camo gear, mess kits and more.
The inventory is running lower day by day, however, because Ralph’s will close its doors at the end of the year, according to owner Bruce Silverblatt.
“Originally, I believe it was fully surplus,” said Silverblatt, 68, of Rostraver, who bought the store in 2001. “But a lot of these types of stores have had to diversify over the years. A lot went to work clothes, which is what Ralph did. Others went higher-end like a Patagonia-type store, and some fully changed over to gun stores.”
One thing they’ve never had is land mines or live grenades. But that hasn’t stopped people from asking on occasion. Silverblatt said staff at the register used to keep a running list of the weirdest requests from customers.
“A guy called up once and asked if we had deer (urine),” said cashier Kayla Povasan. “We don’t. One time a woman called and asked if we sold an invisibility cloak, like in ‘Harry Potter.’ Somebody called just a few weeks ago to ask if we sold waterbeds. Why would an Army surplus store sell waterbeds?”
Silverblatt said the bestseller over the years has largely been military tactical pants.
“Nowadays, though, it’s more new stuff and less surplus,” he said. “There are a couple of companies that supply the military and also do retail, which has a lot more options as far as sizes and colors. The main difference is the military ones have a flame-retardant coating on them.”
Stocking the store has changed quite a bit over the past two decades, Silverblatt said.
“We go to trade shows, and there are wholesalers who buy from U.S. government auctions,” he said.
But even a pivot to focusing on outdoor and work clothing puts the store in direct competition with a lot of other retailers along Route 22 and online. Silverblatt plans to retire once the store closes.
“I’ve really enjoyed the time with our employees,” he said. “It’s a small business, and we’re like a family. Especially this time of year, around the holidays, older employees will stop by and say hello.”
The store will be running sales throughout the remainder of the year, with plans to close in late December.