After 53 years in SLO, this trophy store is closing its doors

After more than half a century of celebrating the accomplishments of San Luis Obispo County residents, Borah’s Awards has shut its doors.

The San Luis Obispo trophy and engraving shop, located at 3001 Broad St., officially closed Oct. 12.

Borah’s Awards opened in 1965. Since then, the business has passed through four families, the Brownell family being the most recent.

Business manager Devon Brownell said the former owners of Borah’s Awards were planning to liquidate to liquidate the business about a year ago when they approached the Brownells and asked if they would like to buy some of their machinery. The Brownells bought the entire business instead.

“It’s actually been pretty amazing,” said Brownell, whose father, Randy, owned Borah’s Awards. “We came into this knowing nothing about awards and we have met so many great people and we’ve been pretty involved in the community.”

Brownell said her father has owned and operated Well Seen Signs in Atascadero since 2016.

The closure of Borah’s Awards comes after the recent death of Devon Brownell’s grandfather. Brownell said she will be moving to Northern California to care for her grandmother.

Her father, however, will continue to run Well Seen Signs

The award shop will have a sale from noon to 6 p.m. Monday and Tuesday. All inventory will be sold for $1 to $5 apiece.

Shelving and other store equipment will be sold at a discounted price, according to Brownell.

“We’ve gotten some great response from the community,” Brownell said. “People have been coming out of the woodwork to thank us for our (services) and wishing us the best.”

This story was originally published October 12, 2018 at 5:32 PM.