Fris Supply Shop has a history in Holland more than 120 years old.

Lambertus John Fris was born in 1857 in Friesland, The Netherlands. He immigrated to Holland and, in 1900, purchased a storefront at 30 W. Eighth St. — once the home of Nathan Kenyon and Jacob Van Putten’s private bank and then a bookstore selling notions, candy and newspapers.

Under the name “L Fris News Depot,” Lambertus sold not only books, but stationary. For half the cost of a letter, residents and tourists could send brief messages to friends and family on the back of postcards depicting scenes of Holland.

Lambertus died in 1907, leaving his oldest children, Henry (a salesman) and Christina (a clerk) in charge. At the time, his youngest son, Jacob, was only 10 years old. Still, Jacob helped, selling newspapers to riders on the Interurban and boats that docked at the foot of Eighth Street.

But in 1914, his brother died and his sister married. At the tender age of 17, Jacob had to care for both his mother and the store on Eighth Street. Six years later, in 1920, his mother passed away. This left the future of the business in question. If Jacob wanted to stay in business, he'd have to purchase it from his mother’s estate.

But he didn't have the money.

Unfortunately, local bankers weren't helpful. They refused to make such a loan to someone so young. Fortunately, Holland Furnace Company's August Landwehr lent Jacob the money to buy his business. Later, when the owner of the building gave Jacob the choice to buy or leave, Landwehr again helped Jacob with a loan.

It's likely Landwehr wasn't only a personal customer, but a business customer as well. Landwehr’s Holland Furnace Company was growing rapidly at the same time Jacob and his wife, Sara, were expanding their business to include “everything for the office,” including typewriters and office furniture.

To manage their growth, Jacob and Sara split their business into two separate entities: one for news and one for office supplies. They moved the Fris News Company to 109 River Ave. — where it became a wholesale distributor of magazines, newspapers, paperbacks and textbooks.

After the couple's son, Dale, finished serving in the Air Force during World War II and graduated from Hope College in 1946, he assumed responsibility for both businesses. Mary Muilman, whom Dale married in 1945, joined him.

In 1956, Dale sold the news division to Chris De Vries, who moved the business to Ninth Street and Columbia Avenue. Dale then moved the office supply business into the building at 109 River Ave. — which he renamed Fris Office Outfitters — leaving the original storefront at 30 W. Eighth St.

As local furniture maker Steelcase produced metal desks with typewriter auxiliary units, wood and steel pedestals, stylish colors, square corners, credenzas and cabinets, Dale strategically turned Fris Office Outfitters into a distributor for Steelcase. He expanded Fris Office Outfitters from one to four locations. During that time, he transitioned the Eighth Street store into Fris Stationers.

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In 1974, Dale and Mary’s son — J — became a partner in Fris Stationers. He transformed the shop into the Fris Hallmark Shop. Another son, John, became a partner in Fris Office Outfitters. He became president of the consolidated corporation in 1986, just as John Feuer was opening the first OfficeMax in Cleveland.

In the 2000s, J’s children — Jonathan, Andrew and Elizabeth — joined the business. In 2010, John became the sole shareholder.

The business continued to evolve. In 2014, John transitioned the focus of the Eighth Street store from Hallmark to art supplies and gifts. In 2017, John sold the office supply business to the Detroit Pencil Company, now Smart Business Source.

In 2020 Andrew Fris, the sixth generation of his family to own the business, purchased the art supplies and gift shop on Eighth Street from his uncle, John, and rebranded it Fris Supply Shop.

Information for this story comes from Robert Swierenga’s "Holland, Michigan," alignable.com,  timeline.steelcase.com and correspondence with Andrew Fris.

— Community Columnist Steve VanderVeen is a resident of Holland. Contact him through start-upacademeinc.com. He'll be presenting at Herrick District Library at 7 p.m. Tuesday, April 11.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Holland History: Fris Supply Shop has a local history more than a century old