Owner of “trail dust” in Bloomington dies

[ghitch75]

RIP Nyle.....very sad to hear this....

 

[Fallschirmjaeger]

Sadly last night many of us lost a friend. Niles ran the trail dust army navy store in Bloomington for last couple of decades. A great place to find unique and hard to find surplus items and good conversation. Not sure what the future holds for the business but let’s send prayers for the family and friends in their time of mourning.

Wow, terrible news indeed. I was a frequent visitor when I was a student in B-town many years ago. His store was one of the few islands of sanity around town where I could enjoy myself. Godspeed, sir.

 

[edwea]

Does anyone know what will happen with the store? I saw some young people working in there from time to time.

 

[Ark]

Anyone been in there recently? Seems like it's shuttered every time I drive by.

 

[Ruffnek]

I look every time I drive by and see nothing in the parking lot and the inner security door closed. I'm beginning to wonder if the others in the family are gonna give it a go or call it quits.

 

[shibumiseeker]

Indeed a loss. He was a good guy and always had interesting stuff.

 

[AmmoManAaron]

Does anyone know what will happen with the store? I saw some young people working in there from time to time.

Anyone been in there recently? Seems like it's shuttered every time I drive by.

I look every time I drive by and see nothing in the parking lot and the inner security door closed. I'm beginning to wonder if the others in the family are gonna give it a go or call it quits.

The estate has to make its way through probate, but once that is done, it is my understanding that the store will re-open at least for a while. No idea how long the probate process will take. There has been talk that if the store stays open long-term, that the main items that will be reordered will be reloading supplies, ammunition, and ammo cans since those items are harder to get locally/expensive to ship and there is an established customer base that depends on Traildust for those supplies. There is also a tremendous amount and variety of back-stock surplus items, far more than could put out on display, so even as the displayed inventory is sold off you can expect to see some different items come out for sale. It'll be worth stopping in every few weeks just to see what's new.

 

[Leadeye]

Found 30-40 brass there when I couldn't find it anywhere.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Found 30-40 brass there when I couldn't find it anywhere.

If you ever find yourself running short, it's easy to make from .303 brass. Basically just resize by running it through the 30-40 die, anneal the neck before loading and then fire form. I have a good supply of 303, so that's what I've done.

 

[Ruffnek]

The estate has to make its way through probate, but once that is done, it is my understanding that the store will re-open at least for a while. No idea how long the probate process will take. There has been talk that if the store stays open long-term, that the main items that will be reordered will be reloading supplies, ammunition, and ammo cans since those items are harder to get locally/expensive to ship and there is an established customer base that depends on Traildust for those supplies. There is also a tremendous amount and variety of back-stock surplus items, far more than could put out on display, so even as the displayed inventory is sold off you can expect to see some different items come out for sale. It'll be worth stopping in every few weeks just to see what's new.

 

[Ark]

The estate has to make its way through probate, but once that is done, it is my understanding that the store will re-open at least for a while. No idea how long the probate process will take. There has been talk that if the store stays open long-term, that the main items that will be reordered will be reloading supplies, ammunition, and ammo cans since those items are harder to get locally/expensive to ship and there is an established customer base that depends on Traildust for those supplies. There is also a tremendous amount and variety of back-stock surplus items, far more than could put out on display, so even as the displayed inventory is sold off you can expect to see some different items come out for sale. It'll be worth stopping in every few weeks just to see what's new.

I sure hope it works out. They're my go-to local powder source.

 

[Wanderer]

Damn, that's too bad... his shop was a favorite of mine to buy obscure obsolete ammo for my old milsurp rifles, and he seemed like a decent fellow. I was actually just there early last month (for the first time in years) to browse his stock, and saw him conversing with a few other patrons; must have been no more than a week or two before he passed. A bit surreal. Hope the shop can re-open in the long term.

 

[Arhen1990]

I lived in Bloomington about 7 years ago I used to love that place... sad to here

 

[elkhunter2018]

Sorry to hear this, I haven't been down there for a few years, but I enjoyed going with my dad.

 

[Win52C]

By the way, Nyle HATED it when people called him "Niles"

This

 

[Ark]

Most recent scuttlebutt I heard was that the inventory was either going to be sold at private auction, or liquidated in a temporary opening sometime in May or June. The store is not going to resume regular business.

 

[AmmoManAaron]

Nyle's remains were cremated months ago, but there will be a visitation/memorial/celebration of life tomorrow from 11am to 1pm at The Funeral Chapel of Powell and Deckard. Address is 3000 E. Third Street, Bloomington, IN 47401. There will be various pictures from Nyle's life and stories will be shared. Following that, Nyle's ashes will be buried at Clear Creek Cemetery between his mother and father.

 

[Hop]

Glad I got to talk with him just before he passed.

 

[Ethan1]

Glad I got to talk with him just before he passed.

Does anyone know if theyve reopened?

 

[DoggyDaddy]

Does anyone know if theyve reopened?

Going by the second to last post in this thread, it doesn't sound like they're planning on it...

https://www.indianagunowners.com/fo...242-columbus-gun-show-june-*.html#post7944239