Today we’d like to introduce you to David Vander Meer.
Hi David, so excited to have you on the platform. So before we get into questions about your work-life, maybe you can bring our readers up to speed on your story and how you got to where you are today?
The first Van’s Bakery was opened in 1924, Jelle Van Der Meer and his friend opened the shop in Grand Haven under the name ‘Ideal Bakery’
Jelle came to the United States in 1912 from Sumar, Netherlands to pursue the New World, his wife and son joined him a year later where they started in Massachusetts before heading to Grand Haven, Michigan a year later. From 1914-1924 we are unsure of the work that Jelle did before starting his own business but assume that it was in the baking business as he owned a bakery in Drachten, Netherlands.
Jelle had 4 other locations between 1924 and 1930 with the move from Grand Haven to Grand Rapids along with a name change to ‘Van’s Pastry Shoppe’. In 1930 Van’s was located at 948 E Fulton Street, while eating or shopping at 948, you could watch the new Van’s be built across the street, when it was time to move, it was quite easy as the trip was not far. This was Van’s final move to its current location at 955 E Fulton Street in 1941, making it the longest-opened site of a Van’s store.
Between 1950-1952, Jelle retired from Van’s after an accidental boiler explosion, and his son, Simon, bought the bakery to continue the family business.
In 1979 John Vander Meer bought Van’s from his father, Simon.
John ran the business with his heart and soul, keeping to family values of leaning on the Lord during the hard times and praising God during the good times. John and his wife, Donna, owned and operated Van’s for 40 years before “retiring”. John can still be found in the back making specialty items such as Almond Banket, Almond Raisin Bread, Danish, and our famous Dutch Crisp Cookies to name a few. John, an avid organist and pianist, brought a piano into the storefront and started having Hymn Sings that were streamed live on Facebook, these videos would make it around the world and be seen by thousands! Though the hymn sings are done, the piano still rests in the store and gets played to the tune of ‘Happy Birthday’ or a special ‘Happy Anniversary’ song.
In May 2019 Van’s got new owners, the bakery is currently owned by David (John’s youngest son) and his wife, Michelle Vander Meer who are 4th generation, they keep to the values of being closed on Sunday’s, in 101 years, Van’s has never been opened on a Sunday! Dave has revolutionized the bakery in many ways, one way is by being there for others… As the former delivery driver, Dave has made connections and friendships that have lasted for decades, he attributes some of the success of Van’s to those who he’s met along the route.
While the success of Van’s sounds like it came from hard work and sweat (it did), every owner of Van’s would tell you that the real success of owning a business over the last 101 years would be because of the Grace and Mercy of Jesus Christ, our Everlasting King and Savior.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Every business struggles and thrives in its own way. Being open for 101 years, we’ve seen a thing or two; depressions, wars, famines, shortages, but we’ve also seen grace and peace along the way too. We’ve found that relying on Jesus, with His help, we are not to grow weary (Galatians 6:9).
Jelle had a boiler explode in his face, as well as a heart attack in his lifetime.
Simon had his challenges such as: “Time’s were tough,” Simon wrote (in a journal we found), “but we made it! All thanks to God Almighty!” he added. “The supermarkets became a big hit and people stopped coming to the small bakery in town, weekends were busy but the weekdays we barely had costumers” Simon wrote. “But, we managed! And things got better!” he added.
John was in a terrible accident, getting hit by a drunk driver, that broke his back and cracked his skull in 2005.
David faced the challenges of COVID-19 and the after effects.
In each of these challenges that each owner experienced, each one would still praise Jesus.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
Our slogan is ‘it’s made clean’, we don’t use preservatives and well, our products are made clean.
We’re known for our Round English Muffin Bread, Dutch Banket and Dutch Crisp Cookies. Our R.E.M. is a kind of sourdough bread that can be multifaceted in ways to eat. Many use it for pizza, avocado toast, grilled cheese, and french toast to name a few. Our Dutch Banket is as traditional as it gets and our Dutch Crisp Cookies are delightfully crafted from our homemade recipe.
Can you talk to us a bit about the role of luck?
please see question 2 answer
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.vanspastry.com/home
- Instagram: @vanspastry
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vanspastry
