It was 70 years ago a couple from the Netherlands packed up their bags and came to Saskatoon in hopes of a brighter future.
It was here they began the family business, Dutch Growers.
Three generations later, the greenhouse remains one of the most popular spots in the city.
“With only a suitcase, a hat and $20 in their pocket basically, they just started from scratch and built up the company,” Dutch Growers owner Rick Van Duyvendyk said about his parents.
Just as Rick once worked with his family on the business, his daughter Nikki Van Duyvendyk also works on running the business — something she always dreamed of growing up.
“This is what I always hoped I could do,” Nikki explained. “I’m just very proud that my grandparents came here with nothing, they started with a field and now we have a place that our whole family can work at.”
The family now has another location in Regina, something they never expected would happen seven decades ago.
“Our team is amazing… It is truly wonderful and I am very grateful to be part of a family business,” Nikki said.
One way the family is commemorating the anniversary is by displaying the family’s first car that they ever owned in Canada.
“They used it for everything from working in the fields, to landscaping, to going to church to getting their groceries, it was their one vehicle and I hung onto it and I restored it,” Rick said.
Rick and Nikki are excited to celebrate 70 years of running a family business, but they know there’s many more anniversaries to come.
“Without the people of Saskatchewan supporting local businesses like ours we could never be a success like we are.”
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