Almost two months into his new business, the man who has taken over for Winston the Bagel Man says he is enjoying it.
Brad Preiss purchased the legendary snack stop from Winston Mezo on Halloween and opened up his own business, Winston's Bagels by B-RAD, in early November.
Unlike Winston's Bagels, which operated late at night near the SIU-Carbondale campus, Preiss says he's open mainly during the day at locations in Murphysboro and Herrin. He says he's reaching basically the same clientele as Winston, just an older version of it.
"The people, who were SIU alums, now have the opportunity to experience the bagels again, which has been great because they're bringing their kids. I'm also out in Herrin, so all those folks get to come out and bring their families and they say, 'this is what I used to eat, this is so great!'"
While it's not easy, especially being outdoors in the brutally cold weather, Preiss says he has no regrets in purchasing the business.
"I was a stay-at-home dad there for a while. (This) gets me out, doing something I really love. I used to bake bagels a long time ago in Nashville, so now this kind of turned into a different version of the bagel business."
Preiss says the biggest surprise so far is how much time he and his wife have to spend on the business outside of making and selling the bagels, especially scheduling his stops.
For a schedule of his stops, visit the Facebook Page called Winston's Bagels by B-Rad.
Despite rumors to the contrary, Preiss says he wants people to know that Winston is in good health and enjoying his retirement.
