30/09/2026
In 2014, my dad, Lappies, opened The Trading Post on a road most people had written off.
Plenty of people questioned the location, but The Trading Post was not built for the rush. It was made for people who like to wander: tourists, collectors, and anyone who loves things that are unique and elegantly antique. Nobody came in a hurry. They came to browse, pick something up, and remember kitchen collectables from long ago.
In 2015, my dad welcomed Chris into the family when we got married. Neither of them knew at the time that they were also gaining a future business partner. By 2016, Chris was learning the ropes. Many conversations over coffee dates turned a family relationship into a working one.
In 2017 we noticed something. Guests were stopping in on their way to dinner reservations, and what they wanted was a quick coffee before they went on. So we started offering take-away cups. No seats, no fuss, just something warm to carry out the door.
Then 2020 arrived. The tourists disappeared. Our little shop on the corner went quiet, and people had understandably stopped spending on the luxuries of the past. We needed to become essential, something people needed, so we could stay open.
So, like many people around the world that year, Chris started baking sourdough. He baked from home, two loaves at a time, in our small oven. At first we gave them away to friends and family, hoping that one of them might want to buy the next one.
Someone did. And that is how Chrismann started at The Trading Post: Chris's bread, inside my dad's shop. My father was always willing to stand back and give Chris room to find new territory, and he supported us in more ways than one.
Soon after the covid regulations lifted, we kept adding to our ideas. We had limited seats and unlimited ideas. We converted one room into a kitchen and turned the shop into a one-stop place for deli needs, coffee dates, and somewhere tourists could linger among locals.
In 2023, after years of giving his everything and more to the family business, it was time for my dad to take care of his own health. He had always stepped in as our hero, and it was our turn. Buying his hard-earned business was a privilege. The slower pace gave him room to follow his passions, and the skills he built will guide us for years to come.
And they do. You will still taste his combinations in the salads, admire his arrangements on the shelves, and spot his hand in the posters and postcards that dress the walls. When it comes to buying stock, there is no one quite like Lappies. His eye for what works, what sells, and what belongs in this space is something you simply cannot teach. He is not stepping back. He is very much still in the picture, and long may that continue.
Together they make quite the combination. My dad with his instinct, his creativity, and his decades of knowing what people love. Chris with the structure, the systems, and the business skills to steer the ship. One built this place. The other is taking it further. And together, they are making sure it lasts.
As the years went on and we were blessed with more business, the bakery needed more space than one room could give it. So Chris started a new venture just up the road on the same street, also on a corner: a bistro at the front, with the production bakery at the back. It's already open, and production is growing. Leading the kitchen as Head Chef is my cousin, Izak Lourens, who has joined our team.
The road people once questioned now has a door at each corner. We may have expanded, but we are still a family business, and that has never changed.
To everyone who has walked in, whether for a coffee, a loaf, or just to look around: thank you. And to my dad, Lappies, thank you for making room.
Love,
Mari
