Sharon Hanks
After owning their blueberry farm for 10 years, Dave and Kelley Reenders have decided to expand to retail customers with the summer opening of Crossroads Blueberry Market in West Olive.
The market at 14315 Lake Michigan Drive near 144th Street is managed by their daughter, Amber DeHaan, a recent Calvin College graduate thrilled with her new job.
"It's awesome," DeHaan says. "We love the blueberry business and my dad saw this opportunity," she says, noting the building once housed R & J Motors, a used car business. "He's really busy with his wholesale business but he asked me if I was interested in doing this. It sounded like fun!"
Her parents own 325 acres in the Grand Haven area and harvest about 275 acres, she says. Cost for blueberries is $4.50 for two pounds; $9.50 for five pounds and $18 for 10 pounds.
In addition to blueberries, the market offers freshly baked blueberry pie and muffins, blueberry buckle, dried blueberry chocolate chunk cookies, and a variety of smoothies, coffees, jams, jellies and ice cream. All baked goods are from secret family recipes, DeHaan says.
The market is open from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 9 a.m. to p.m. on Friday and Saturday.
Sharon Hanks is innovations and jobs news editor at Rapid Growth Media. Please send story ideas and comments for the column to Sharon at [email protected]. She also is owner of The Write Words in Grand Rapids.
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