Art Van History in Kalamazoo – Remember When It Was Van’s Furniture
With the news of Art Van Furniture's sale to Thomas H. Lee Partners of Boston, it brings an end to Michigan based ownership of a furniture giant. But furniture business known as Art Van in Portage didn't start out that way.Van's Furniture was a long time Kalamazoo business, that ended up being across from the Kalamazoo airport on Portage Rd. in the 1970's. According to posts on Facebook page Vanished Kalamazoo, the store was owned by the VanHamersveld family. The Portage location (where McDonald's is located,across from the airport) burned down sometime in late 1979 or 1980.
Van's rebuilt near the Crossroads Mall. According to Vanished Kalamazoo posters, legal action was threatened due to the two stores names being so similar. Art Van eventually bought out Van's around 1990.