A couple who has recently made Kamsack their home has opened the doors to a new business on Kamsack’s main street in what is still remembered by many as the “former SaskPower building.”
AJ’s Trading Post, operated by Anne McKenzie and James Keshane, held its opening day on March 17 when they provided coffee, juice, doughnuts and popcorn at no charge.
“Our first day was better than I expected. A lot of people stopped in to look around,” said McKenzie.
“We have a good inventory on hand. We purchased about 80 per cent of Eugene Tataryn’s inventory, and on opening day he came into the store and bought back some things,” said Keshane with a chuckle, making reference to the man who had previously operated a business known as Penny’s Liquidation for over two years in the same spot, but closed his doors recently.
“Karla’s Auction House of Springside was also a good source for much of our inventory,” he said.
The couple moved to the area in July of 2017, when Anne was employed by H and M Management and began working at the Keeseekoose Store, which is a gas station/convenience store. That arrangement ended, and beause the couple both liked the area so much they decided to stay in Kamsack and open their own business.
Keshane is originally from Keeseekoose First Nation and McKenzie is from LaRonge. They now live in Kamsack and have four children.
The couple’s three-year-old daughter, Annika Jocelyn, is the inspiration for the initials in the name AJ’s Trading Post, even though, coincidentally Anne and James are also AJ. Their three other children are Naomi, 18; Boyce, 15 and Ron, 10.
For the couple, starting and operating a business in Kamsack has been a positive experience.
“When we started looking for a location for our business we had lots of help from others in town to find a location to set up,” said McKenzie.
“Initially we wanted the business to be a pawn shop, but we encountered issues. We are continuing to work out these issues and will hopefully be running as a pawn shop in six months.”
Right now the store is stocked with both new and used items for sale.
“We spent three weeks getting everything ready and setting up our displays after Penny’s closed down. We purchased some of our display cabinets from Yorkton and some from Saskatoon,” said Keshane, gazing at the neatly arranged rows of items on display throughout the store.
“There haven’t been any major challenges associated with setting up the store, but I had to make some compromises with Anne when it came to finding a place for things in the store. Anne usually gets her way,” he said with a smile.
The business will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays to Saturdays.
