The Goodstuffs Building

Current Building circa 1880s to Present

The government granted title to this property in 1848 to Joseph C. Clark. In October 1858, Clark deeded it to early settlers and lumbermen Edwin Cobb and Andrew Rector. A small sample of the early property owners from 1864 to 1930 includes Charles Mears’ business manager Henry C. Flagg, lawyer Charles Dean, John Bouton, Judge and State Senator William E. Ambler, Pentwater Bank founder Fred Neilsen, Pentwater State Bank official Frances W. Fincher, and Frank O. Gardner. The property endured bankruptcy, sheriff’s sales, and litigation. A clothing store probably stood on site by 1883. At first, it was a one-story frame structure with a two-story facade. Owners later expanded it to a two-story building. It was a notions store around 1910.

By 1939, Alan D. Stanchfield, age 57, opened his 5 & 10 cent variety store in the building after moving to Pentwater with his mother, Caroline Matilda Stanchfield. Caroline was the widow, and Alan was the son of Otis O. Stanchfield, a Pentwater lumberman lawyer who, after a business failure, took his family to the Dakotas in the 1880s and died there in 1893. The family returned to Michigan. Alan owned an Ann Arbor movie theater in the 1920s, traveled as a roadshow pianist, and had his own Atlantic City Boardwalk orchestra before he opened the Pentwater 5 & 10 cents store.

Alan moved the store in 1946 to another village building, and Richard Dumas, a former Ludington A & P Store manager, converted 111 S. Hancock to the Dumas Grocery Store. During the first few years, Ludington butcher George Greiner, followed by William Borucki, operated the grocery’s meat market, and the grocery workers fielded a hot bowling team. Richard Dumas and a group of local businessmen helped to revive the Chamber of Commerce around 1946-1947 after it nearly disbanded in the post-war days. Karen and Richard Dumas finally retired in 1969 to St. Petersburg, Florida, keeping the building and remodeling the upper-level apartments, reserving one as their summer residence.

By 1971, Al & Alice Rindquist had turned the grocery into the Leprechaun Shop, selling wooden toys, custom furniture, and cabinetry. Some of the toys were part of a display at the Pentwater Historical Museum. Al Rindquist taught woodworking classes at the store in 1976, and by 1983, the Leprechaun had summer and fall weekend hours. The Grand Rapids Press described it as “Allan’s handcrafted shaker-style furniture and Alice’s brilliant weaving.”

In 1997, Margaret LeSueur opened the GoodStuffs Restaurant in the building. The GoodStuffs offers breakfast, lunch, and homemade cookies and preserves today. It’s a popular place for visitors, and residents often hold informal coffee meetings there. Appearances by The Old Time String Band are a regular event.

Selected Sources: “Abstract of Title,” Oceana Title Company. “A.D. Stanchfield Rites Announced,” Ludington Daily News 10/4/1955. “Alan Stanchfield Sells His Store,” Ludington Daily News 10/11/1946. “Colorful Peak at the Past,” Grand Rapids Press 1/2/1983. “Dies March 9 in Phoenix,” Ludington Daily New 3/13/1964. “Officers are Elected,” Ludington Daily News 12/3/1947. Ludington Daily News 6/28/1933. “Will Close Grocery Store,” Ludington Daily News 5/30/1969.