EDWARDSBURG —  John Foreman is keeping his family business going.

Foreman is the new owner of The Trading Post in Edwardsburg. The business was originally opened by his father Bill as Bill’s Trading Post near the Edwardsburg Village Hall in 1982.

The Trading Post used to be in a log cabin before moving to its current location at 71077 M-62, just a few miles north of the Indiana state line.

“My dad had it when he was my age and it was something I wanted to do,” Foreman said. “I worked for him and my grandson lives with me and maybe some day he will want it.”

Foreman said that there is something special about keeping the family business going.

“I think it builds character,” he said. “People like going to a family owned business instead of the big box store.”

Foreman recalled working on the weekend for his father when he was younger, “especially when he wanted to go fishing.” He recalls spending time listening to customers telling stories of the “one that got away.”

“We used to have a wood stove and they would sit around the wood stove, throw their cigarette butts in a big old can and tell fish stories,” Foreman said. “It was pretty cool. Those people are all gone now.”

Foreman said he sees a younger crowd coming into his store. But the one thing that doesn’t change is that they are looking for the right equipment, they want to know where the fish are biting and they want to know what they are catching them with.

And, they still tell fish stories.

“I hear all kinds of fish stories,” he said. “I like meeting new people and making new friends.”

Foreman reopened The Trading Post back in mid-January. He carries a full line of rods, reels, bait and tackle, as well as hunting and fishing licenses.

Being located near the Indiana border and just north of the Indiana Toll Road gives Foreman and The Trading Post a prime location.

“This is a key location because when you have the summer fishing there are a lot of people living on the lakes from Chicago,” he said. “They get off the toll road, they pass by here and pick up some worms and whatever else for the weekend they are up here. They don’t have to wait in lines like at a Walmart where there is so much to look at. They can come in, get what they want and go.”

Foreman says he keeps in stock the kind of equipment they need and if he doesn’t have it he can order it for them.

The Trading Post is open seven days a week from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 6 to 5 p.m. Saturday and 6 to 4 p.m. Sunday.

You can contact The Trading Post at 663-8803.

Edwardsburg Argus