BIRCH MICHIGAN IN THE FORMER BIG MAPLE GARAGE

Today Birch Michigan is a welcoming one-stop-shop featuring eclectic home decor, interior design, specialty gifts, and a separate newly renovated candle shop featuring among other product’s Birch Michigan’s signature Pentwater scent. When it opened, the shop was the culmination of years of dreaming and planning by partners Niki Breazeale and Michael Haack who bought the building in May 2018.

HISTORY OF THE BUILDING

THE BIG MAPLE: In 1921 brothers W.F. and Charles Bouga and their cousin Ms. Tillie D. Nichols hired John Graham to erect a large one-story cement block structure on the former site of their father John Bouga’s livery stable established in 1889. It had large doors on the front and on the back of the building. The Big Maple Garage, named for the large maple tree in front of the store, was a Texaco Station with two pumps right at the curb on Hancock.  Each pump had a picture of the Texaco Fire Chiefs’ red hat and a Texaco Star on the top glass globes. This was a boom time for automobile ownership and the shop also sold Hudson-Essex automobiles.  Orders were filled by driving the cars back from Grand Rapids for Pentwater customers.  For a while the Big Maple also served as the Greyhound Bus Depot.  In 1934, after Charles Bouga had passed away, W.F. Bouga and Miss Nichols sold the garage.

THE ROLERMAR ROLLER RINK:  Fast forward a few years, and on Wednesday August 17, 1949, the owner of 119 Hancock, Rex Frutchey opened a roller rink called the “Rolermar,” chosen by Mrs. Charles Daggett in a naming contest.  Interestingly, not all community members were excited. Some protested the opening of the rink due to what they claimed would be unmanageable parking issues. However, the rink prevailed. The blue plastic floor for skating and dancing was paired with freshly painted blue walls and a white ceiling.  From Tuesday to Sunday the rink was open for skating and the big doors were thrown open for the breeze and to let passersby see the skaters.  Saturday nights featured dancing 9:30pm to 1am to the music of Bill McGraw’s orchestra.

BIRDLAND HARDWARE STORE.  After the building stood empty for years, Bob Lucas owner of the Lucas 5 and 10 cent store bought out the Les Bailey Hardware store.  He combined two buildings into one hardware store named Birdland Hardware after the birds that would fly in through the broken windows and sit on the rafters during the years when the building stood empty.  

FROM VARIOUS SHOPS TO BIRCH MICHIGAN.  In 1996, the space became home to a variety of retail shops and most recently, in 2018 became the home of Birch Michigan.  Zoe, the store mascot, who according to Niki was the real boss, greeted guests and kept children and spouses entertained. Her large fan-following ranged from toddlers to seniors and she was often the recipient of special treats from the local citizenry. One of those fans captured the photo of Zoe below in her favorite pose.

A little more about Birch Michigan The secret of Birch Michigan’s success is Niki’s own design style which she calls “Primitive Mid-Century.” Niki loves to mix together new fresh and organic items with older items that tell a story and, in her words, “are made to last”. She would never hesitate to “put a 100 year-old wash stand with a mid-century bamboo chair on a vintage Kilim rug with a set of horns or antlers on the wall.” But in the end, to Niki, it is all about the client’s style preference, and in Pentwater that often means beach, lake and cabin decor. When asked where she finds all of the store’s vintage items, Niki says she shops all over in many states and has been known to slam on her brakes on the side of the interstate to retrieve discarded items.

The most important stock at Birch Michigan is their exclusive line of the scented candles especially the signature “Pentwater” scent and a newer scent they recently debuted called “Beach Grass.” Michael is the craftsman who makes the candles. In fact, they have created all of their candle scents and hand-pour all of our candles and body products in a production lab in the building because in Niki’s own words, she is “particular about what I put on my skin and omit into the air we breath.” They also have a plan to offer custom candles for large corporate events, weddings, and specialty events such as real estate agency closing gifts.  In May 2023, Birch, Michigan opened the new candle shop in the former space that housed “Mangoes.” This gorgeous new space is full of handcrafted open shelving, cabinetry, and a reclaimed wood sales counter.

Michael’s background is in the music business, specifically in artist promotion and development, and he had own Artist Development firm in Nashville, but he is a native Michigander.

Niki, who has lived everywhere from Nashville to Los Angeles, has always worked in interior design on the side, but her background was also in music marketing, promotion and artist management as well as television production. Now Niki and Michael have made their store a Pentwater’s shopping destination.

Text and Photos Pam VanderPloeg 2019. Updated 2023. Copyright 2023.