With twice as many openings as closures, Holland marks net growth in downtown

Cassandra Lybrink, The Holland Sentinel
5 min read
0
Between July 2021 and July 2022, The Sentinel recorded five announced business closures in downtown Holland, compared with 12 announced openings and reopenings.
Between July 2021 and July 2022, The Sentinel recorded five announced business closures in downtown Holland, compared with 12 announced openings and reopenings.

HOLLAND — How did the business landscape in downtown Holland change over the past 12 months? The news is mostly positive.

Each year, The Sentinel analyzes closures, relocations, name changes and openings in ground floor restaurants and retailers between Pine Avenue and Columbia Avenue; Seventh Street and Ninth Street.

More: The business layout of downtown Holland: 2019 vs. 2021

Between July 2021 and July 2022, The Sentinel recorded five announced closures, compared with 12 announced openings and reopenings. Closures included Kitchen Zero, Making Waves, Threads on Eighth, Teerman's and Mayberry and Co. — nearly all retailers.

More: Kitchen Zero closing in downtown Holland after less than a year

More: Competitive swimwear shop closes on River Avenue

More: Threads on Eighth slated to close in downtown Holland

Delftware is available at Dutch Village Downtown on Eighth Street in Holland. The storefront was once home to the housewares department of Teerman's.
Delftware is available at Dutch Village Downtown on Eighth Street in Holland. The storefront was once home to the housewares department of Teerman's.

Openings included nine retailers, specifically:

Garsnett Beacon Candle Co. Retail shop featuring specialty candles and a make-your-own-candle bar, expected to open in August. The storefront at 210 S. River Ave. was previously home to Mayberry & Co. — which closed in May after three years in business.

The Flower House of Holland. Floral and gift shop that opened in November 2021 at 25 W. Ninth St.

More: Couple to open make-your-own, retail candle shop in downtown Holland

More: The Flower House brings arrangements, gifts to downtown Holland

More: The Poppy Peach opens in remodeled Eighth Street building

The Poppy Peach and Laurel and Jack. Clothing and accessories shops that opened in October and November 2021, respectively, at 17 and 21 E. Eighth St. after ownership of the buildings decided to remodel. The storefronts were previously home to Karla's Place, Eighth Street Salon and Holland Clock Co.

Family Central. Christian book and gift shop operated by Focus on the Family that opened in September 2021. The space at 215 Central Ave. was temporarily home to Holland Clock Co. after it was displaced in February 2020. Before that, it held West Michigan Bike and Fitness until the business' exit from downtown Holland in March 2019.

More: Holland's newest clothing boutique opens its doors

More: Family Central opens to scores of supporters amid protests

More: Dutch Village Downtown brings wooden shoes, delftware to Eighth

The Poppy Peach carries women's fashion, home decor and Michigan-themed accessories. The store opened on Eighth Street on Monday, Oct. 25.
The Poppy Peach carries women's fashion, home decor and Michigan-themed accessories. The store opened on Eighth Street on Monday, Oct. 25.

Dutch Village Downtown. Fun-loving retail shop owned by Nelis' Dutch Village, a theme park on Holland's northside. The shop at 20 E. Eighth St. was formerly home to the housewares department of Teerman's, and opened in November 2021.

Sea Bags. Eclectic shop with bags made from boat sails. The shop opened in a portion of the former Teerman's in April.

Love MI. Souvenir and apparel shop located in a portion of the former Teerman's, opened in April.

More: Holland's newest retailer, Sea Bags, opens downtown

More: New apparel shop fills last vacant Teerman's space on Eighth Street

Estella Rose Fashion. Boutique with options for babies, children, preteens and women. The store is expected to open in the former Crust 54 at 54 E. Eighth St. next spring.

The bakery at Bowerman's on Eighth offers donuts, muffins and other baked goods. More foodstuffs are available throughout the farm market.
The bakery at Bowerman's on Eighth offers donuts, muffins and other baked goods. More foodstuffs are available throughout the farm market.

Downtown Holland saw several restaurant openings and reopenings as well, including:

Bowerman's on Eighth. Farm-to-table restaurant and cafe opened in January. The combined storefront at 2 E. Eighth St. was previously home to SandCastle for Kids — a toy shop that closed in November 2020 after nearly four decades in the Holland community — and a portion of the former Alpenrose Restaurant, which closed in December 2020.

More: Bowerman's on Eighth opens its doors in downtown Holland

More: OI Asian Bistro opens to customers on Eighth Street

More: Big E's makes its return to Eighth Street

OI Asian Bistro. With the same owners as Mizu Sushi, a restaurant focused on Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese food. The business opened in November 2021 at 68 W. Eighth St.

Big E's Sports Grill. Bar and grill attached to Holland's Courtyard by Marriott that closed indefinitely in February 2021 and reopened in March at 121 E. Eighth St.

The showroom of Sea Bags. The nautical-themed shop offers a wide range of totes made from the sails of boats.
The showroom of Sea Bags. The nautical-themed shop offers a wide range of totes made from the sails of boats.

Four ground-floor restaurant or retail vacancies remain unspoken for, including the former Making Waves, which closed in early 2022, and the former Kitchen Zero, which closed after less than a year in April. The building housing Threads on Eighth will soon be added to the list.

Two vacancies have been in place the entire year, including a portion of the former Alpenrose Restaurant on Central Avenue and the former Superior Sport Store on River Avenue.

But with a total of 108 storefronts, that means the surveyed area has a ground-floor vacancy rate of less than 5 percent.

"It's amazing, really," said Linda Hart, executive director of the Holland Area Visitors Bureau. "I don't know that it's ever been this low. I think people are just surprised at how much retail and boutique shopping we have here — and that's what makes us a year-round shopping destination."

Storefronts downtown continue to fill quickly, with less than a year between the official closure of Teerman's and the openings of Sea Bags, Love MI and Dutch Village Downtown, all three of which filled the vacancy. The former Mayberry and Co. was spoken for within two months.

"I think what we've done, by adding a variety of those different kinds of retailers, is add different price points into downtown," Hart said. "I think that's definitely helped our offerings.

Love MI, an apparel store, opened in the final vacant space of the former Teerman's on Saturday, April 23.
Love MI, an apparel store, opened in the final vacant space of the former Teerman's on Saturday, April 23.

"In particular, I think bringing Dutch Village Downtown onto Eighth was the smartest thing anybody could've ever done. It gives people down here a chance to buy something that's uniquely Dutch. The candle shop will be great, too. Back when Candle-ology in Moynihan's moved out, people really missed it. It'll be nice to have a candle shop back downtown."

Subscribe: Learn more about our latest subscription offers!

As usual, the middle block of Eighth Street between Central Avenue and College Avenue saw the most business changes, with eight openings, one move and one vacancy. That section was followed by River Avenue between Seventh Street and Ninth Street, which saw one opening, one planned retirement at The Blackbird and two vacancies.

Meanwhile, downtown's newest developed block, between Pine Avenue and River Avenue, is seeing more traffic, Hart said.

"People are realizing it's a great restaurant block," she said. "It's just nice that people are heading that way and exploring. I don't know if there's any other beachtown that has the type of offerings in downtown merchants that we do. Holland doesn't close at the end of the season."

— Contact reporter Cassandra Lybrink at cassandra.lybrink@hollandsentinel.com. Follow her on Instagram @BizHolland.

This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: Downtown Holland marks twice as many openings as closures in 2021-2022

Advertisement

Recommended Stories

  • Sam Bankman-Fried Traded In His $35 Million Mansion In The Bahamas For A Prison Cell With 35 Inmates But Claims "He Did Not Do Anything Wrong"

    Formerly disgraced FTX CEO and Co-Founder Sam Bankman-Fried was convicted in November of wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy, and sentenced to 25 years in prison. His high-profile trial marked a significant chapter in the unraveling of FTX, which collapsed under suspicious financial practices, leading to intense scrutiny and legal action. For the first time since his incarceration, Bankman-Fried described his daily life in a detailed interview with journalist William D. Cohan of Puck. Do

  • Charles Schwab website ‘is a mess’: Hundreds of TD Ameritrade users complain about their new online home.

    “It wouldn’t surprise me if they see an outflow of clients over the next six months,” one user told MarketWatch.

  • Homes are overvalued in much of the U.S. — with these 5 states leading the list

    Home prices are overvalued nationally, according to a new report by Fitch Ratings, led by Southern states.

  • Nvidia Recently Bought 5 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks, and 1 Is Absolutely Soaring

    Nvidia is spreading some of its recently amassed wealth by investing in smaller AI companies.

  • Exclusive-Bank of America banker who died had sought to leave, citing long hours, recruiter says

    The 35-year-old Bank of America investment banker who died from a blood clot earlier this month wanted to leave the U.S. bank because he was working more than 100 hours a week, according to an executive recruiter who spoke with him about seeking a new job. Junior banker Leo Lukenas III died of an acute coronary artery thrombus, a type of blood clot, the New York Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said last week. Lukenas said in mid-March that he wanted to leave Bank of America because of the grueling hours, Douglas Walters, a managing partner at GrayFox Recruitment, told Reuters in an interview.

  • Seeking 12% Dividend Yield? Analysts Suggest 2 Dividend Stocks to Buy

    Now that we’ve had time to digest the April jobs numbers, some strategists are getting worried about the economy’s mid-term outlook. The jobs report showed 175,000 new jobs added in the month – but that was the lowest gain in the past six months, and was accompanied by an uptick in unemployment, from 3.8% to 3.9%. Along with these topline numbers, the report showed declines in job openings and hires. For Roukaya Ibrahim, watching the US economy from BCA, this job report may indicate a shift towa

  • The 3M Dividend Cut Is Here. It’s Big.

    Materials company 3M declared a dividend of 70 cents per share on Tuesday evening. The cut means 3M will lose its status as a Dividend Aristocrat—companies that have raised payouts for at least 25 consecutive years. 3M had already told investors a “reset” was coming.

  • Walmart lays off hundreds of employees and requires others to relocate

    Walmart on Tuesday announced layoffs affecting several hundred jobs at the retail giant’s campus offices. It also said it will require most remote workers and personnel in its Dallas, Atlanta and Toronto offices to relocate to its primary offices in Bentonville, Arkansas; Hoboken, New Jersey; and the San Francisco Bay Area. The news, conveyed via a Walmart staff memo provided to The Associated Press, said the relocations will serve the goal of “bringing more of us together more often.”

  • What is a high-net-worth individual?

    High-net-worth individuals, those with net worths of $1 million or more and liquid assets, take different approaches to finance than others.

  • 4 Top Stocks to Tap Nasdaq's New All-Time High

    Stocks like Netflix, Inc. (NFLX), Alphabet Inc. (GOOGL), NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA) and Super Micro Computer, Inc. (SMCI) are expected to benefit from the ongoing Nasdaq rally.