Update on Scott Bosgraaf

Well its gotten to that point, where Scott Bosgraaf deserves his own post. Oddly enough it seems that he has been following in his former lessee, Brett Flipse’s footsteps.

Scott Bosgraaf in front of what could be a building (at least GR Press knows how to label file photos)

Last time I wrote about Scott Bosgraaf he seemed to be doing quite well, owning several companies and building developments, but as you can see many of these are running into trouble:

• Scrap Yard Lofts
• Baker Street Lofts - In Foreclosure
• Deli Joe’s - Part of Baker Street Lofts
• Baker Loft Event Center – Part of Baker Street Lofts
• Woodword Station – In Foreclosure
• Kirsch Lofts
• Central Lofts – In Litigation
• Auto Sports Unlimited – Filed for bankruptcy
• Faargsob LLC – Filed for bankruptcy
• Theodore’s Restaurant
• Bosgraaf Commercial – Part of Auto Sports Unlimited
• Holland Transmission – Part of Auto Sports Unlimited

Huntington Bank was a major financier for Bosgraaf, had enough, and decided to pursue action against Bosgraaf.  The bank began to take some properties into foreclosure, and initiated some lawsuits to receive payment on loans.  Auto Sports Unlimited (which was used as an umbrella company to Bosgraaf Commercial, and Holland Transmission Service) and Faargsob (Bosgraaf backwards) where used as collateral for some of his developments, and both have filed for bankruptcy.  The legal battles between Huntington Bank and Bosgraaf are ongoing so we will have to wait and see how this will all play out.

The situation between Bosgraaf and his lenders has been brewing for awhile.  Back in January 2011, I noticed lots of visitors to The Ledger were searching for “Scott Bosgraaf foreclosure” or some variation of that.  At the time I could not verify any of that information, but now the press has caught wind of the story.

Read more at Holland Sentinel, Grand Rapids Press, Argus Press, and my original post here.
Though I do love the title for this Scott Bosgraaf photo “Scott Bosgraaf of Baker Lofts stand in the wine cellar at what could be Theodore, the new restaurant at Baker Lofts. “  At what could be… really?

It’s A Bird, It’s a Plane, No It’s ……

Mumbai, Minneapolis, and Grand Rapids, Oh My – What do they all have in common….. Skywalks!

So Grand Rapids has a Skywalk, which is an elevated enclosed walkway between buildings. The main point of skywalks is to give users a safe way to move between buildings (avoid traffic, congestion on streets) and to protect pedestrians from the weather.

The Grand Rapids Skywalk is 1.4 miles long, covers 7 city blocks, and connects multiple buildings.  The Skywalk starts at Devos Place off of Monroe, and snakes it way down Monroe, and heads East on Fulton and ends at the Van Andel Arena.  Here is a map and here is another map, and here is a confusing map with entrances and exits and non identified buildings.

It is hard to get information on the SkyWalk and so I took it upon myself through visual observation and Bing Maps and their Aerial View (which rocks) to create my own map of the Grand Rapids SkyWalk and identifying what buildings it connects (and the businesses inside those buildings).  But of course soon after I created that map I found this one which is perfect – oh well.  Please click on my map to make me feel better about not wasting my time.

I have been on the Skywalk once after a Griffins hockey game at Van Andel Arena, promptly got lost and exited as quickly as I saw an exit.  But luckily it looks like the City of Grand Rapids is fixing the Skywalk system with a series of wayfaring signs by Corbin Design out of Traverse City (the same company that did the street wayfaring system for the downtown).  Additionally according to this article they are also looking for ways to beautify the Skywalk.

With out further ado here is the path of the Grand Rapids SkyWalk (my map): Also note that the numbers below correspond to the Bing Map I created)

Van Andel Arena (#1)to 25 Ottawa SW Building (#3) to both 32 Market SW Building (#5) and the Parking Lot on Market/Fulton/Monroe (#7) to Courtyard by Marriott (#8) & Plaza Towers (#9) (at 11 Monroe NW) to Campau Square Parking Lot on Campau & Monroe (#11) to Campau Square Plaza Building (#13) (99 Monroe NW) to National City Bank Building (#15) (171 Monroe NW) then splits to JW Marriott (#17) and Amway Grand Hotel (#21) & Plaza.

The JW Marriott Route (#17) goes to Riverfront Plaza Building (#19)(55 Campau, 88 Campau) and ends.

The path to Amway Grand Plaza (#21) goes to Windquest Building (#24 my personal favorite) and  DeVos Place/Performance Hall (#25).

So it seems that this Grand Rapids SkyWalk may still grow in the future.  In fact the city of Grand Rapids as recently as 1/20/2010 in a Economic Development Corporate meeting was asking about viability of a skywalk at the Old Post Office, which it was told that a Skywalk is too expensive and not a part of the plan for the building (here is the link to the notes from that meeting).  But it goes to show that is still on the minds of city leaders and developers.

There  is a photographic slideshow of the Grand Rapids SkyWalk through Flickr.

Please share your SkyWalk stories and thoughts in the comments.  Does Grand Rapids even need a SkyWalk?  How did this all get started in Grand Rapids?

An Anthropologie Study on Grand Rapids Retail Environment

I am somewhat surprised that there isn’t more of a hub-bub surrounding the recent news that Anthropologie, a trendy & popular woman’s apparel, accessories, and home decor retailer, owned by Urban Outfitters is moving to Breton Village in Fall 2011.  The community has always been striving for well known brand names to move into the area, and Grand Rapids is heading in the right direction  look at some of the other current “cool” tenants of Grand Rapids like the Apple Store, and The North Face (which is opening up next weekend in Woodlawn Mall).

Well part of the reason people still do not think Grand Rapids has arrived could be  because we do not have a Trader Joe’s. (though it shouldn’t be) See examples here – read the comments as well 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7.
Not to mention Facebook Groups – by the way Trader Joe fans get your act together and consolidate, no wonder why Trade Joe’s doesn’t want a store here, look at this mess below:

• Bring Trader Joe’s to Grand Rapids! with 593 members
• Bring Trader Joe’s to Grand Rapids, MI! with 5,695 members
• Bring Trader Joe’s to Grand Rapids!!! with 70 members
• Trader Joe’s–Come to Grand Rapids!!! with 46 members
• Please open a Trader Joe’s in Grand Rapids, MI with 296 members
• We Need Trader Joe’s In Grand Rapids, Michigan! with 71 members
• Trader Joe’s PLEASE come to Grand Rapids! with 35 members
• Bring Trader Joe’s to Grand Rapids, MI with 34 members
• Grand Rapids needs a Trader Joe’s!!! with 51 members
• We want a Trader Joe’s in West Michigan! with 213 members

So why is it thought that Grand Rapids still hasn’t arrived yet?  The real reason (my hypothesis) is that these stores are not in downtown Grand Rapids.  They are on the outskirts of town, or in the mall (which in many GR proponent view as evil).  Right now when people talk or brag about Grand Rapids they start with downtown, which basically has everything, except for a strong retail shopping presence.  When people talk about other downtown areas that they are found of retail shopping usually comes up, and more often than not the talk leads to international brand name stores, trendy boutiques, and the like.  Perhaps the DeVos family can kick off this initiative as well, after all Pamela DeVos (wife to Dan) is the designer and president of the Pamella Roland brand of designer womans clothes.

So what do you  all think would these type of stores be better off in downtown Grand Rapids and would they be supported and thrive with consumer spending?  Or is the Grand Rapids downtown just not have enough residents and visitors to support a well known retail store yet?

For my other post on Grand Rapids “arriving” click here.

Update:  So did WOOD TV 8 read my blog and get a story idea – click here for text and video .  Very cool of A.K. Rikk’s to use ArtPrize as an opportunity to explore (and exploit the crowds) the feasibility of opening up one of their stores downtown.  The short term leases sound like a great idea, and a good way for a retailer and the city to find a perfect match.  Why wouldn’t the city and property owners be more open to this concept.

Brand OverKill – Windquest

WindQuest is a racing sailboat owned by Dick DeVos, of Amway fame.  Amazingly, this sailboat has been the inspiration for numerous companies mostly owned by the DeVos family.  It is interesting to see how this boat has become a branding tool for the family.  In my opinion. consistently branding unrelated companies with the same name dilutes the brand and can lead to confusion in the marketplace.

Let’s take a look of all the WindQuest branded companies in the DeVos portfolio:

• Windquest – Is a MaxZ 86 boat, owned by Dick DeVos.  Dick along with his brother Doug race the Windquest in various races, including the Race to Mackinac Island, winning it in 2007, and placing 3^rd in their division in 2008.
• The Stow Company – Formerly named Windquest, the Stow Company is a home organization company, selling closet, garage, pantry, entertainment center, and other home organization solutions for the home.  They wisely rebranded in May 2010, by changing their name from something that conjures up images of sails, and boating accessories (things this company does not manufacture), to a word which defines exactly what home organization is all out “Stowing all your stuff, neatly and orderly in your house.”  This company has been in business in 25 years, and just recently celebrated that annivesary.  I wonder if they just got tired of people calling them asking them for sails.
• Windquest Building – This is a building owned by the DeVos family, at 201 Monroe in Grand Rapids.  This building was rebranded from the  River City Building to Windquest building (bet you couldn’t see that one coming).  Now a building is one item that seems to be the total opposite image of Windquest, it’s a building, its stationary, its mostly impervious to winds.    This building has recently been remodeled, and redesigned, most likely to do with the renaming of the building.  Wonder if a bottle of champagne was broken on the façade of the building.  This building also houses the Windquest group (surprised yet?) which we will cover shortly.  Additionally it also houses Pomegranate Studios, a business incubator owned by Rick DeVos (son of Dick DeVos) which launched Spout.com and ArtPrize.  It also houses another Rick DeVos group Momentum, a venture firm investing in internet startups.  Lastly a new wine bar called Reserve owned by the Dick and his wife Betsy DeVos opened up on the ground floor.  In case you ever wondered what happened to Spout.com, a movie focused social media venture which was founded by Rick DeVos, it was acquired by SnagFilms in May 2010.
• Windquest Group – Is an investment holding company which relocated to the new Windquest building that Richard DeVos along with his wife Betsy own.  The Windquest Group is involved in a number of thing and here is only a small sampling of what I found.  A joint partnership to produce HydrAid BioSand water filter.  Cascade Engineering is working with International Aid to create a water filtration system for developing countries and Windquest is supporting this endeavor with capital.  Windquest is also providing financial backing to the Green Machine, a clean energy solutions. This is a joint partnership between ElectraTherm providing the technology, Pro Services has the  application, and Windquest providing the capital.  I am sure there is plenty more out there that the Group does, so if you know please comment or send an email.
• Request Foods – Now Request Foods is not a DeVos owned company but take a wild guess on how Request Foods got its name. That is right, the founders were inspired by the Windquest boat sailing on Lake Macatawa.  Believe me I wish I was making this up.

I suppose branding all your various companies around one word which is not your last name or initials is a good thing.  Because I would much rather see something named Windquest over DeVos.  Just because last names are boring.  Maybe next time bring one of those marketing/branding people and pick their brain, maybe they can come up with something creative like maybe WaterMission.

So do you think about the use of the name Windquest?  Do you any other information of other Windquest Groups activities or investments, or any other DeVos companies that are housed in the new Windquest building?

S Nightclub & Bosgraaf Family – Trust Me, It All Makes Sense

In early July 2010, Holland’s “premier” nightclub S Nightclub and Sol Lounge closed down (by the way the mlive article gives a much better picture than the Holland Sentinel article).  Bummer right?  So reading the articles about the closure I started noticing some interesting aspects, which I want to explore more, so here comes the shovel because I am about to dig.  Ready?

S Nighclub & Sol Lounge opened in October 2008 was created and owned by Brett Flipse, left, and Brett Flipse Jr. (lovely image available courtesy of the Holland Sentinel).  Brett Flipse is also the former owner of the Ottawa Beach General Store.  He owned the general store for 12 years until the bank foreclosed upon the property in 2009.  I am going to go out on a limb and venture to say that perhaps the reason the Flipse lost the General Store (read about the controversy here & here & here) was because of his $2.4 million investment into the S Nightclub.  What a horrible position to be in leveraging one business to fund a new business and then being left with neither a mere two years later is quite a shame.  I won’t go into speculation on the validity of having a nightclub in Holland, especially in a less than ideal location of Lakewood Avenue (along Lake Macatawa or downtown might have helped out the business more) but I do wonder about the due diligence of this project.

Anyways Flipse gave up ownership of the nightclub back in late 2009 because of financial difficulties, and ended up giving the nightclub to the owner of the building who is Scott Bosgraaf.  According to the former general manager of the nightclub “Scott never wanted to operate the nightclub. He wanted to be a landlord. Instead of closing down, he wanted to continue operating to make sure the liquor license would stay, all the operational  audio-visual equipment would stay …now he can sell it as a nightclub.” According to the Mlive article, they seem pretty confident that someone will buy the nightclub and keep it running. Bosgraaf’s approach makes sense, pool everything together and sell it as a package, and by getting out of the day to day management of the club, he is sticking with what he know and what he does well.  Researching more into Scott Bosgraaf, it seems like he does a lot of things well.

Scott Bosgraaf has the following “projects” and business under his control:

• Scrap Yard Lofts – Holland
• Baker Street Lofts - Holland
• Woodword Station – Owasso
• Kirsch Lofts - Sturgis
• Central Lofts – South Haven
• Auto Sports Unlimited – Holland
• Theodore’s Restaurant – Holland (new restaurant in Baker Street Lofts in former Till Midnight location, Articles here & here & here, facebook)
• Various commercial buildings such as the S nightclub building
• Bosgraaf Commercial
• Franklin Foodservice Equipment Supply – Finally according to the Holland Sentinel article on Theodore’s he also owns a “companies that recycle in one way or another auto parts, kitchen supplies and buildings”.  I think the auto parts is Auto Sports Unlimited, and the building recycling is Bosgraaf Commercial, Frankin Foodservice Equipment Supply must be the kitchen supply business.

Impressive no?  Well Scott is only one of 4 siblings who were born to Ted & Pat Bosgraaf, and if you start pulling back the peel on the Bosgraaf name, you will find a whole family of business owners.  Luckily a lot of light is shed upon this subject by visiting the Bosgraaf Homes website, where Amy (Bosgraaf) Alderink wrote up a family history  which goes a little something like this.  It all started with Ted and Jack Bosgraaf, who were brothers.  Ted was married to Pat, and they had four children – Mike, Brian, Scott, and Amy.  Ted and Jack were originally sod farmers who got their way into creating communities, such as Shady Pines in Allegan County, by converting their existing sod farms.  They built upon their experience to create Summergreen in Hudsonville, Spring Lane development in Holland, and in Grand Haven they created Sandpiper and redeveloped the Story and Clark Piano Factory, all under the Bosgraaf Sales and Leasing.  Eventually the brothers split and Ted started Bosgraaf Homes with his son Brian.  Soon the whole family was working in some capacity in Bosgraaf Homes.  Right now Bosgraaf homes is owned by Amy and Mike who bought out their father Ted for the business.  Alright so now we have some more Bosgraaf names we need to sort out.

Amy (Bosgraaf) Alderink has her hands in the following:

• Co-owner of Bosgraaf Homes (blog, facebook, twitter, & youtube)
• Is executive director of Homecor of Holland – a non-profit which buys foreclosed or abandoned homes in the central city area of Holland, fixes them up and sells them to low income families.  They also help current home owners with repairs and purchasing of homes.  More info – here & here & here & blog
• Involved with Social Sprouts a marketing company as well.
• Also is a writer for Urban Street Magazine

Then there is Mike Bosgraaf who along with Amy is a co-owner of Bosgraaf Homes.  Mike is married now divorced to Veronica, who is the entrepreneur behind Pure Bars (blog, twitter, facebook) company by creating vegan health bars for her vegetarian daughter.  More stories about her venture here & here.

Lastly, that leaves us with Brian Bosgraaf who owns Cottage Home (facebook & twitter), a custom home builder focused on building million dollar homes on Lake Michigan (feel free to drool over here), and additionally he also owns DwellTech (facebook & twitter), which is an home & commercial energy auditing company based in Holland.  He also worked for ICCF in the past as well.

Yes the Bosgraaf family has many layers as you can see here, maybe one of these days I will tackle the other famous Lakeshore families such as the DeVos or the Princes.  But you guys have probably have heard enough about them.

So are you guys going to miss S Nightclub?  Anyone ever been – thoughts?  Any more Bosgraaf businesses that I missed?

Similar Logos?

It must have been perfect timing.  Driving on the highway I came along side a Jonathan Stevens Mattress truck, and thought nothing of it, until I drove past an Allen Edwin Homes Billboard, and that is when I began to scratch my head.

The Three Word Company Name with the Three Color Row Square logo.  Take a look for yourself (and if you open up both company links in your browser look at their URL icons – Three Color Row Square.)

If you do have a long company name you are somewhat limited with what you can do with your logo, because you do not want it stretching across the whole letterhead, truck or billboard.

Anyone else have any examples of the Three Word Company Name with the Three Color Row Square logo look?

See my previous post about Allen Edwin Homes here.