New Frontiers Unlimited owner Aaron Marshalek stands behind a counter displaying a selection of quality knives available for purchase at the outdoor gear store in downtown Lisbon, which will hold a soft opening today and a grand opening on Friday. Hours will be 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The store is located in the same place as before at 123 E. Lincoln Way, Lisbon, with Marshalek picking up where founder Vance Adams left off. (Photo by Mary Ann Greier)

LISBON — A Lisbon native who grew up in Frontiers Unlimited talking with business founder Vance Adams now owns the knife and outdoor gear store, fulfilling a dream to take over the operation after retiring from military duty.

The newly-renovated business at 123 E. Lincoln Way, Lisbon will hold a soft opening today and a grand opening Friday, with hours of operation from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The phone number is the same as before, 330-424-9670. The store features quite a collection of knives and will eventually feature more equipment for outdoors and camping.

Owner Aaron Marshalek loved the outdoors as a kid. He was in cub scouts, loved to hunt and fish, and visited Frontiers Unlimited as a little boy.

“That’s how I grew to know Vance,” he said.

Even after graduating from Lisbon David Anderson High School in 1998 and immediately joining the U.S. Army, whenever he visited home, he visited Vance and one time told him if he decided to retire, he was interesting in buying the store.

That fact was even mentioned in a news story in 2019 when Frontiers Unlimited celebrated its 40th anniversary since Vance first opened it in 1979. Vance said Marshalek was first in line. He passed away in September 2023. Marshalek told Vance’s wife Judy that he was still interested in buying the business and that’s exactly what he did after he retired as a U.S. Army Master Sergeant in September 2024.

He served 26 years, three months, 11 days, and was a Green Beret, serving in Special Forces. Marshalek served three tours in Iraq and one in Afghanistan. He earned four Bronze Stars and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal and those certificates are hanging in the store. His home base was North Carolina, but his heart was in Ohio.

“Lisbon was always my home — I always wanted to come back,” he said.

He returned to Lisbon in November 2024, shortly after retiring, and has been working on transforming the space at Frontiers Unlimited into an old-fashioned, cabin-like store. He and his wife, Erin, a nurse who grew up in the United Local area, live in Salem. They each have five kids from previous marriages.

Marshalek knew the store in Lisbon would give him something to do that he was passionate about. He gutted the interior, discovering a tin ceiling and a wooden floor. He took the walls down to the studs and kept one side open and placed wood panels on the other side.

“I wanted it to be more rustic and outdoorsy,” he said.

Then he started decorating, paying homage to Vance with a framed photo of him on the wall with the Frontiers Unlimited sign that’s still out front above the door outside. He also found an 1895 railroad map of Columbiana County and a 1950 map of Lisbon that are both framed and hang on the wall. Lisbon postcards that were made into metal signs also cover the wall, with the old DAHS that’s now the Juvenile Court location, the McKinley home, the old McKinley school and the Lepper Library. He also has an old postcard of the block where Frontiers Unlimited is located. The original clock from the jewelry store that used to be housed in the space was found upstairs. There’s an old cash register on the counter. On the wall, there’s an old Maple Street sign and a couple of old license plates, along with some stuffed fish, deer and pheasants. He found a table made out of a Jack Daniels barrell, tool

Marshalek’s parents, Bob and Iris, still live in Lisbon and he sees them almost every day. They love that he’s home. When asked what he thought Vance would think about the store, he said he thought he would be happy. Vance’s wife stopped in and he said she loved the way it turned out.

A lot of the knives were already from stock that Vance had, with names such as Sog, Gerber, Meyerco, Maglite, Lansky, Queen Cutlery, Schatt and Morgan Cutlery. Other names include Spyderco, Boker, Buck, Kershaw, C.R.K.T., Case, Swiss Army, Bark River, Tops, Z/T, Cold Steel and Bear Ops.

He even gave some space to his niece, Audrey Hickman, for Audrey’s Attic which features firestarters, keychains and patriotic wooden pieces. There are walking sticks in a corner and he said he may bring in some kayaks for rent since there’s a kayak launch just down the street off of South Market Street.

Marshalek said so many people grow up in a town, then they leave and don’t come back, but he always wanted to come back. He said they need to bring more people into Lisbon, pointing out some of the features that can attract them, such as the kayak launch.

When he’s not working at the store, he runs in ultra marathons that are 100 miles long. In June, he’s running in the Tahoe 200, which is a 200-mile race around Lake Tahoe, and he has two other 100-mile marathons he’s running in this year.