Vandenberg Furniture: When Quality Continues for 83 Years

12000 N US Highway 131 Schoolcraft, MI 49087-9494 www.vandenbergfurniture.com

WHEN QUALITY CONTINUES FOR 83 Y ears

Vandenberg Furniture has been an installation in the West Michigan area since 1937, opening first on Portage Rd. in the heart of the Washington Square neighborhood in Kalamazoo, and eventually moving to its current location on the north end of Schoolcraft. Brothers Anthony and Dewey VanDenBerg opened Vandenberg Furniture with the idea, featured in the opening line of The Kalamazoo Gazette article, “The store will specialize in living room suites, occasional tables and chairs, radios, electric lamps, pictures, bedding, and general home furnishings.” And 83 years later, this still holds true, aside from the radios. You’ll be hard-pressed to find one there. And perhaps sans the radio, Vandenberg Furntiure has been a long fixture in the community, representing a type of store and structure nearly bygone in our current era: Family-owned while specializing in an item more heavily commercialized than when they first opened their doors, and continuing as well as emphasizing a more customized and genuine customer service. It is personalized and quaint (although the showroom is sizable), compared to the furniture stores of the modern day, with a focus to provide their customers with the best buying experience while also providing furniture that meets their needs and expectations. It is something current owner, Cal Vandenberg (Anthony’s son), aimed to continue in the inheriting of the store in 1972.

Having your father hand you the reins of a store already quite established and reputable doesn’t come without some pressure. But Cal, felt confident he could fill the already mighty shoes his father left behind. That he could, in his words, “… continue the quality of service and product that people had grown to expect from Vandenberg Furniture while also realizing the weight of carrying on the legacy my father built. It is important to me that our customers feel that we care about their needs, and that they can depend on us to be there for them after the sale. That’s still important to me today.” The service after the sale …it is something Cal really emphasizes with the service his team provides for their customers. And if you’re purchasing from Vandenberg Furniture, you’re purchasing quality—some of the best brands, many that are made in the U.S.A. like Best, Flexsteel, Marshfield, Vaughan Basset and many Amish brands as well. They even carry the Michigan-made Restonic Mattresses. And Cal carries his father’s philosophy today - if you’re purchasing some of the best products, you better have the best after - sales service as well and nothing less. With a store 83 years strong, and Cal having carried it through 48 of those years, it’s easy to say he has filled his father’s shoes, as well as carried them further. It’s not an easy feat to keep a family-owned business going in an industry taking a new direction from what father Anthony had in mind when opening it years ago. But Cal defies the expectations, not only in keeping the store going, but of course the service in his store. His secret? There is none. He credits his team: A sales staff with experience that truly understands what their customers are looking for, coupled with a management team that knows and has been capable of keeping Vandenberg Furniture successful and running, even in today’s climate. Cal also credits his wonderful wife for standing beside him through the years of business, as well as serving as the “voice” of their TV commercials.”

If you stop into the store this month during their 83rd anniversary, you might get a chance to say hello to the man behind the name and the store these last few decades. Or you might run into him in South Haven as he sails along the shores of Lake Michigan, where he says he’s enjoying the best of what West Michigan has to offer, similar to what he offers in his store.

Vandenberg Furniture – serving the area since 1937. Located at 12000 N US 131, just north of Schoolcraft. This month they are celebrating with specials throughout the store!

By Lalita Chemello