Meet the Merchant: Daniel Vandersteen from The Dutch Shop

How Did You Get Started & What Inspired You to Open a Shop in Downtown Grimsby?

"So The Dutch Shop has been here for 57 years. I haven't been here quite that long but when we moved to Grimsby I was about 10 or so. It quickly became one of our favourite stores and then I got to know the previous owner and through the course of my career, I always used to joke that if he ever wanted to retire I would buy the place and then one day it wasn't a joke."

Is there a story behind your business name or logo?

"The logo is actually kind of interesting. So it's a tulip which obviously represents the Dutch as we're famous for tulips but it's also a D and an S which represents the name Dutch Shop"

What's one product or service you're especially proud of?

"I mean I'm proud of all of our products but a service that I'm proud of is we do a weekly delivery run to the local seniors home. This is something that we started during Covid when a lot of people couldn't come out and it's something that we've kept doing because there's a lot of Dutch folks and just folks in general over there that have mobility issues and can't make it out. So we are committed to continuing to support them by delivering their groceries to them every week."

What does the Grimsby community mean to you?

"So the Grimsby community to me means home. I've lived in Grimsby most of my life. I've lived in other places - Toronto, St. Catharines, Niagara Falls - but I came back here and I took over a business here cause this is my home and I think it's an amazing community and it's an amazing place to live."

What's one thing people might not know about your business?

"There's a lot. We've been here for 60 years and we still get people coming in and are surprised that we have a deli. One thing that most people don't know about our business is that we actually do a lot of online and we have shipped our goods here to every province and territory and over 40 US states including Hawaii."

What do you love most about what you do?

"My favourite part of this job is that no two days are ever the same. And I get the chance to share my heritage, my community, to build a community, meet interesting people, talk about products. But yeah, everyday comes with its challenges and it's always a little bit fun."

What was your first job ever and how did it lead you to your business today?

"My first real job was actually in package design and marketing and that ended up leading pretty directly to what I do now where I modernized a lot of our website and our digital marketing"

You can find The Dutch Shop at 52 Main St. W, Grimsby

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