Authentiek’s closes, ownership to focus on Jenison Artisan Market

HOLLAND TWP. — Just over a year after opening, a boutique shop in Holland has closed its doors.

Authentiek’s — a boutique offshoot of Jenison Artisan Market — opened its doors to customers in April 2021 at 11975 E. Lakewood Blvd.

More:Jenison Artisan Market opens boutique store in Holland

“We decided that, because we have a pretty big following that comes from Holland, we wanted to expand here,” owner Ariane Van Iwaarden told The Sentinel in 2021. “This one is much smaller and doesn’t have additional vendors; it’s just one small business.”

Van Iwaarden opened Jenison Artisan Market five years ago to showcase her love of antique and vintage items.

“I ended up taking over my entire building,” she said. 

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Authentiek’s featured clothing, furniture, home decor, and Michigan-made wine, beer and gourmet food. But growth at Jenison Artisan Market made focusing on a second store difficult.

“The lakefront location did really well,” said store director Joshua Trube. “It surpassed expectations for that first year. But, at the same time, JAM kept performing better and better, and doors kept opening to make it better, and it kept pulling us away from Holland, to the point where we needed to just close.”

Loyal customers will continue to find Authentiek’s products at JAM.

“It’s not really a sad story,” Trube said. “We brought the sister brand into JAM and combined the two, because we couldn’t keep up with both. We miss Holland, but at the time, it was the best business decision.”

Trube hopes to someday try again.

“It was great being in Holland,” he said. “We had a blast. We hope to sometime open another location in that area. We met a lot of fun people.”