'Best Part Was The Customers': Waukesha Battery Store Set To Close

WAUKESHA, WI — A Waukesha battery business co-owned by three brothers will change hands to a Milwaukee-based company, one of the shop's owners said on Monday.

Challenger Battery Service Corporation, located at 406 W. Sunset Drive, will close its doors in the middle of the summer, owner Fred Ramge told Patch. There's no set closing date yet, but Milwaukee-based Remy Battery will move in soon after.

Challenger first opened in 1952, and Ramge bought the store from his father in 1980 with his brothers Rick and Steve, he said. They wanted to retire and talked to Remy Battery as that company looked for a space in the Waukesha area.

The battery store specialized in batteries for vehicles like cars, boats and motorcycles, Ramge said. Mariners itching to enjoy the warm weather lined up to buy batteries for their boats on Monday.

"The marine business is cyclical," Ramge said. "When it gets nice out, people think about their boats. We sell quite a few batteries to people looking to go fishing and water-skiing."

The customers were the best part of running the battery shop, Ramge said. "Without our customers, we couldn't have accomplished this. We met a lot of wonderful people."

He said he hoped the new owners would continue the same quality of service and "take care of people like we used to."