Mel Cotton’s Sporting Goods has long billed itself as the place “where successful adventures begin,” but after 70 years, the San Jose store’s own adventure will be ending soon.

On Monday, the store announced that it will be closing by the end of the year because the land beneath it has been sold to a developer, according to a news release from Mel Cotton’s.

While legions of loyal Scouts, camping families and hunters will eventually find somewhere else to buy their tents, skis and camouflage jackets, it’s definitely the end of an era.

“You don’t want to say it’s devastating, but it kind of is,” said Al Sousa, of San Jose, who bought two kayaks at the West San Carlos Street store on Monday. “My dad brought us here when I was a child to get camping stuff, sporting goods, hunting and fishing gear.”

What he’ll miss most, Sousa said, is the personal touch and the knowledge the store’s employees had. “The people here have always been like family to the customers,” Sousa said.

Many of those employees were sharing memories of their own Monday with customers who were browsing through winter clothing recently put on the racks.

Home from World War II, Mel Cotton — yes, kids, he was a real guy — started his business in 1946, back when “sporting goods” meant fishing rods, hunting rifles and tents. Ironically, Cotton told Leigh Weimers in a 1999 Mercury News profile that farmworkers, not recreational campers, were the biggest customers for his tents, as ranchers needed a place to house their employees. When the store moved to its present location in 1955, the 25,000 square-foot outdoors emporium was called Mel Cotton’s Tent City.

As suburbia and suburban interests grew around San Jose, Cotton began selling team sports equipment along with selling and renting ski boots and equipment — a market that got a big boost thanks to the popularity of Squaw Valley and the Winter Olympics that were held there in 1960. Youth groups like Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and 4-H Clubs also had long-running relationships with the store.

“Ever since I was a boy, Mel Cotton’s was nice enough to give anyone who said they were a Scout a 10 percent discount,” said Eric Heckman, a San Jose financial adviser who is also a leader with Cub Scout Pack 116. “My two oldest sons got their backpack personally sized and fitted there, but sadly my youngest son will have to go somewhere else for his first Boy Scout backpack.”

Stan Cotton, Mel’s son, took over the business in 1994. An avid sailor, Mel continued to travel with his wife, Dorothy, who died in 2002, and turned his attention to philanthropy, especially for the South Bay’s Jewish community. He died in 2008.

Competition from stores like REI, Sportmart and even Walmart took its toll on the independent retail operation over the years. The opening of the massive Bass Pro Shops on Almaden Expressway in South San Jose last November was seen by many as the death knell for Mel Cotton’s.

Last year, the land on which both the store and a neighboring plumbing and heating operation, O.C. McDonald, sit was under consideration for a housing development. But that plan, which would have included a new space for the store, was rejected by the San Jose City Council, which wanted to preserve the property for commercial use.

“Since the business has maintained profitability, despite less than optimal weather conditions and new competition in the area, the owner explored all options to attempt to keep the business going,” the store said in a news release Monday announcing its closure.

San Jose Planning Director Harry Freitas said that all the proposals approved for the site entail commercial and light industrial uses, but not residential.

“We all will miss Mel Cotton’s and its history in San José, he said. “We had hoped for a proposal that would have kept it in place. ”

It appears some sort of development will again be proposed — a hotel is the hot rumor. And whatever rises on the corner of Race and West San Carlos streets may be in the city’s best interests, but it won’t be the same.

“Although the store will no longer be open, we hope that the sense of spirit and community that the store has stood for will live on,” the store’s news release said, encouraging customers to share their memories on its Facebook page (www.facebook.com/melcottons), which will continue “long after the building is torn down.”