SKOKIE, Ill. (CBS) — The sand on Chicago’s beaches can be useful, if you want to keep your beach blanket from blowing away.

In this week’s Made in Chicago, WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller talks with Kevin Kaiser, the co-founder of Grand Trunk in Skokie, which used to be called the Travel Hammock.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio’s Steve Miller reports

“Four years ago, we had to change our name to Grand Trunk Goods for the Road, because you can’t sell things other than hammocks if you’re called the Travel Hammock,” Kaiser said.

Grand Trunk sells things like tents, travel pillows, beach blankets.

Kaiser says he loves to go to the beach.

“And we hated bringing big blankets and towels that didn’t fit in our backpack,” he said. “It got moldy. It just wasn’t convenient.”

“So we took one of our hammocks and we laid it on the beach – because they’re very packable – it’s about the size of a small softball or football,” Kaiser continued. “We would put that on the beach and it worked really well, but it kept blowing away.

“So we decided to make a beach blanket that was 7-foot by 7-foot and put sand pockets on the bottom so you can scoop sand in there and it never blows away,” he said.

And it’s not hard to fill the sand pockets.

“So in each corner, there’s a 7-inch by 7-inch triangular sand pocket. And you put the sand pocket facing down,” Kaiser said. “And it’s real easy. All you have to do is scoop the sand into the pocket until it’s filled, and you’re ready to go.”