HOLLAND – Time is running out at the Blackbird in downtown Holland.
The homeware and décor store’s longtime owners, Paul and Becky Faulkner, are ready to retire. The business and inventory was listed by Nate Broekhuizen at Cornerstone Real Estate Group for $60,000.
After:A couple are to open a retail candle-making store in downtown Holland
After:Closing of a competitive swimsuit store on River Avenue
After:Superior Sport Store will close in Holland after 112 years
So far, there have been no takers. If the business doesn’t sell by August, Paul told The Sentinel, it might be time to pack up.
“At that time, we will likely start a retirement sale if we go out of business,” he said. “Everything is in motion, how long will it take. Early fall.”
The Blackbird has been a downtown staple since 2008, when the company’s first owners moved the store to Holland from Suttons Bay. Paul and Becky bought the business in 2013.
“They retired and sold us,” Paul said. “We’ve been here for nine years now. The company I worked for went out of business in 2012, so I was looking for something. Growing up, my parents had a Christian bookstore and a Hallmark store, and my dad had a bookstore business. music. , so I knew the retail business.
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“I’m from Port Huron and had been looking for months and months and saw this online and started negotiations and we ended up buying it.”
Paul said they’ve had their ups and downs, like any retail business.
“But overall we did well,” he said. “It’s a busy downtown so there’s always someone looking for an empty space, unlike places like downtown where I’m from with lots of empty shops. There’s traffic here. People make Holland a place of destination, even in the winter.”
The Blackbird – located at 186 S. River Ave. – offers gifts and home furnishings, including candles, rugs and decorative items. In retirement, Paul and Becky look forward to travelling.
“And get out of the winters,” Paul said.
If a buyer doesn’t come forward, The Blackbird will be the latest in a series of closures along River Avenue, including Making Waves, Superior Sport Store and Mayberry and Co.
While the former Making Waves and Superior Sport locations remain vacant, Mayberry and Co.’s space will soon be occupied by Garsnett Beacon Candle Co.
Parties interested in The Blackbird should contact Broekhuizen at 616-405-5973.
— Contact journalist Cassandra Lybrink at cassandra.lybrink@hollandsentinel.com. Follow her on Instagram @BizHolland.
