Letter to the editor: This is not a decision we have taken lightly. We have been working on this for the last couple years and trying to find a way around it. As many of our customers know we also own Angler’s Choice soft plastics. We manufacture, package, warehouse and distribute our product in house between the 2 properties.
Looking at the way business has shifted over the years, we’ve had to make some difficult decisions. Operating as a privately owned, full service bait and tackle shop in this economy, and the ease of online shopping, has been increasingly difficult. Things were slowing down before the pandemic, and, as we all know, things aren’t getting any easier. So we have decided that it’s time for a change. REMEMBER – change isn’t always bad – more on this in a second.
Both of us grew up in Wallaceburg; actually just a few streets away from this very store. Our childhood memories are filled with coming to Ed’s Bait, seeing the fish in the pond out front (if you’re old enough to remember it!), the big sturgeon on the wall, Jamie sitting in his chair behind the counter with a dog beside him, and a certain “haze in the air”. We know what this store holds in memories, not only for us, but for anyone who grew up in the area. The fish stories told, the laughs shared. That’s what makes the decision to “close” Ed’s Bait so hard. We tried to keep things the same because we are suckers for tradition and softies at heart. But when times change, you sometimes need to change with it.
NOW – Onto the positive! Through the course of us owning this store, we’ve worked hard to build Angler’s Choice into what it is today. We now have hundreds of retailers all over Canada, the US, Sweden, and Japan. The bait shop business might have started to weaken, but there is SO MUCH room for growth with this little company we built together. Our goal now is to dedicate all of our attention to it and see how far this takes us. SO – the store itself isn’t closing!! We will remain a “tackle shop” – just no longer operating under the name Ed’s Bait.
Over the course of the fall/winter we will be completing some VERY much needed updates and maintenance in the store. The sign out front is being redone to rebrand the store as the Angler’s Choice warehouse/store. We will finally be able to showcase ALL of our baits as so many of you have been asking for a long time – and nothing makes us happier! We will still continue to carry complimentary items (such as line, weights, hooks), a smaller selection of rods and reels, and a very heavy emphasis on other local manufacturers. If you don’t support local, it all goes away, and there are far too many local people making incredible products for the fishing industry right now that need to be seen. As a part of this we will be transitioning to the Angler’s Choice Facebook page around the new year. Our actual store hours will be changing as well, down to 4 days a week to allow us the much needed time to manufacture and package our product.
Starting today we are going to be clearing out product and lines that we do not have room for going forward. This will include all in stock : Striker Apparel, Shimano Rods & Reels, St Croix Rods & all Ice Fishing Gear (we will be pulling everything out in November). This means unfortunately that when we sell out of the above brands we will no longer be an authorized retailer for them. This was a very difficult part of this decision as Shimano & St Croix were both key brands that helped us grow over the last 13+ years. Shanah and myself would both like to thank Spencer and Bob for their help over the years, we greatly appreciate everything you both have done for us.
Starting October 1st our store hours will be changing. We will be Closed Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday, Open 9am-5pm on Thursday, Friday & Saturday and 9am-2pm on Sundays.
Going forward as the Angler’s Choice Showroom we are going to be carrying the complete Angler’s Choice product line as well as Mega Jigs, CL Fishin, Rolly’s Rigs Stinger Hooks, Tactical Fishing Gear (including their complete rod lineup) Bondy Bait Co. We are also looking at adding The Reel Method products, various terminal tackle items such as hooks, weights and some reels (Daiwa, Pfleuger and others) to go along with our products. We are looking at a few local jigs makers products for the spring walleye run as well.
As you can see we will still be maintaining a tackle shop so to speak, just focusing what we carry to compliment the products we manufacture as well as focusing our efforts on the manufacturing side of our business.
We would like to thank our customers for supporting us over the years and hope you will think of us when you’re looking for anything we may carry going forward.
Dave, Shanah, Laney & Lincoln (and Sophie the dog) McCready
