Holland Bowl Mill Spotlight: Holland, Michigan

In 1926 Chester VanTongeren started a wooden shoe factory in Holland, Michigan. Nearly 100 years later, the business his family built is still running, still family owned, and now ships handcrafted wooden bowls to customers around the world.

Holland Bowl Mill began its evolution from wooden shoe factory to bowl producer over decades of reinvention. Today the company is led by Dave Gier, Chester’s grandson, who took over as president and owner and has grown the operation into what is now recognized as the largest solid wood bowl production facility in the world.

The bowls are made the same way they have always been made, by hand, from solid hardwood, using time-tested techniques that have not changed in over 150 years. The mill produces nearly 1,000 bowls a week, each one crafted with the same attention to quality that Chester brought to his first wooden shoes nearly a century ago.

That kind of generational commitment to craftsmanship is rare. What Chester started as a humble workshop became a global business without ever losing the spirit of a Michigan family making something with their hands.

You can browse their full collection and order directly at hollandbowlmill.com.

Michigan Small Business Spotlight is proud to feature Holland Bowl Mill as one of West Michigan’s most enduring family business stories.