64 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM {due west} words by EDWARD MARVIN • photography by GINO DE GRANDIS FAMILY good sports ABOVE: Marc and Brent Goetz are the fourth generation to run their family-owned business. and Marc’s kids, Grant and Ellen, put in time during high school—making them the fifth generation of the Goetz dynasty to help out with the business. Brent, who lives in Redwood City with his wife Maya, talks with PUNCH about what keeps this sports-minded family running. What are your strongest sports-related memories from your childhood? I remember my parents showing up to all of my and my brother’s sporting events. That support was huge for us as we grew up. I remember being on vacation in Tahoe but driving two hours each day back to Sacramento so I could play in a baseball tournament. And my parents always found ways to take us to large sporting events, like the World Cup at Stanford, the World Series and spring training. How old were you when you started working at Goetz Brothers? I started when I was 13, in the summers—selling, stocking, receiving merchandise, printing shirts and relacing gloves. If team sports play a role in your Peninsula life— whether it’s your own Little League memories or carpooling kids to practices—chances are you’ve ritually kicked off a season with a visit to Goetz Brothers Sporting Goods. The present set of brothers running the iconic local business—Brent and Marc—carry on a legacy dating back to 1937. That’s when their great-grandmother Maude Goetz spotted a for-sale sign in the window of Gifts and Cards, a stationery store on Broadway in Redwood City. The family-run store went through several iterations— even carrying TVs, typewriters and pianos over the years—before exclusively committing to all-things-sports. Along the way, Maude’s sons Frank and Joe picked up the mantle, followed by Maude’s grandson Steve and his wife Carolyn. And then came Brent and Marc, who worked alongside their dad for 20-plus years, relocating the store to San Carlos in 2016 before fully taking over in 2020. That’s not all: Brent’s son and daughter, Dillon and Abby,
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