Pekin bait shop expands to liquor sales
Pekin Daily Times The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the closure of businesses throughout the United States. But South Side and Tackle owner Jeff Lance of Pekin is in the unusual position of opening a new business because of, rather than in spite of, the pandemic. “Both (my father, Mike, and I) lost our jobs due to COVID,” said Lance. “I lost my job at F. L. Schmidt Foundry, and he got away from Keystone.” Lance and his son, Gabe, are avid hunters and fishermen, and remember purchasing supplies for fishing expeditions at Spring Lake from a now-defunct bait shop on south Second Street i...