When Oberlin was blanketed by a late-in-the-season snow this week, scores of Obies clad only in Pumas and hoodies trudged across Tappan Square in search of the sturdier garments on sale at Dave’s Army Navy on Main Street. This week we sat down with Dave Parsh, who has been running the eponymous store selling military surplus and outerwear for 14 years.

How did you wind up running a store in Oberlin?

Well, I’m from Columbia Station in Lorain County originally. I actually attended an Oberlin High School prom in 1978. After college I moved out to California where I got married. My wife and I decided we’d rather raise our kids back here so we moved back. I worked with a friend of mine in an army-navy store in Ashtabula for a while but that didn’t work out. Then my wife and I heard about an army-navy store that was going out of business in Oberlin so we came and bought it.

Has the business changed over the years?

We used to be a lot more college-oriented, actually. When we started we used to sell Grateful Dead and Jimi Hendrix stuff along with the surplus. We tried to be more cutting-edge then. Styles just fluctuate too fast to keep up though and I became more interested in the military surplus side of the business. We’re still part of the college universe, though. We cater to a lot of professors and their families. As for students, I like to say that we get them coming in and we get them going out. Also when they’re uncomfortable.

So you must love it when it snows.

Business is definitely partly dependent on that. We keep an eye on the Weather Channel.

What’s the military surplus business like?

Like any market there are trade publications and shows. Plus a lot of people bring in things they find in their attic. People who buy these items usually have an interest in historical authenticity. Some things are really hard to part with, so I’ve set up my own little collection in the store with everything from a World War II Japanese helmet to a World War I rifle. I just recently got a World War I mess kit.

How has business been affected by the arrival of Wal-Mart?

We get asked about that a lot and it’s certainly a factor. The price of shipping has gone up, the price of gas has gone up. This year has been rough though the snow now may actually help us. It’s still up in the air whether we can continue. This is an outdated business model. You’d think that if you have a good product at a good price, and if you are knowledgeable about what you sell and are active in the community you should be able to succeed. But that may not be good enough anymore.

What’s next for Dave’s?

Well, right now we’re buying for next fall. I was just looking at the new Converses today. It can be hard though. You know, there’s about twice as much retail in Lorain County now as there was when we started without any increase in population or income. Sometimes it seems like you have to work twice as hard just to break even. It’s tough to predict what’s going to be popular so a lot of times you have to just react to trends. The key to our success is being able to have the right thing at the right time.