Stock options go to market

Studying the market – the stock market, that is – is an appropriate pastime at Yoke’s Foods on north Market Street with the recent arrival of financial adviser Willie Maddox and the in-store Edward Jones Investments office.

“It’s a first,” Maddox said shortly after his business office held its grand opening in the supermarket near U.S. Highway 2 in early June.

It’s not like the investment firm targeted Yoke’s for an office. The lack of commercial office space in the area played a part.

Cantu Commercial Properties proposed the Yoke’s Foods site, with its in-store space previously occupied by a Global Credit Union branch.

Some remodeling was required to transform a space devoted to tellers windows into a reception area for an existing office, which is now his, Maddox said.

Maddox, who previously worked from his home office, has been with Edward Jones for “a little over two years.”

He said the firm can provide advice and information on a variety of items including stocks, bonds and mutual funds as well as long-term care, life and disability insurance.

Maddox is in the office from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays as a general rule, but he said he often has appointments with clients outside regular business hours.

“Typically, I find myself working a couple of evenings a week,” he said.

Maddox obtained an undergraduate degree and a master’s in business administration while serving in the Navy. He was a supply officer in the Navy, thus dealing in finance, he added.

Maddox was born in Wichita, Kan. But his wife’s family is from Fairfield, and many family members live in the Northwest.

Their two children, boys 7 and 9 years old, attend Colbert Elementary School. So it’s handy having his office close to home, Maddox said.