By Greg Chandler
Zeeland Record
Ten months after Howard Miller Company announced that it was planning to shut down its business, a new ownership and leadership team is relaunching the Zeeland-based clock manufacturer.
In a news release issued last Thursday, Howard Miller announced that it is “now actively rebuilding with a curated product strategy centered on its most enduring categories: wall, mantel, tabletop and floor clocks.”
An ownership team headed up by The Huizenga Group, a West Michigan investment firm led by founder J.C. Huizenga, acquired the 100-year-old company earlier this spring. Other members of the ownership team include Phil Poel, executive vice president at Traeger Grills; Bill McKendry, founder and chief creative officer at BrandHaven; and Jim O’Keefe, Howard Miller’s former vice president of sales and marketing.
“It’s definitely exciting news,” Zeeland Mayor Rick Van Dorp said. “This iconic brand that’s been part of our Zeeland history for … 100 years, to close up shop was sad to see. We’re really grateful for the Huizenga Group and the folks from the management team that stuck around and resurrected this. I think it’s great news for the city and the area.”
Howard Miller Company is being led in the relaunch by O’Keefe and Director of Marketing Andrew Christmann.
“We felt a responsibility to build on an established tradition of quality workmanship and iconic design,” O’Keefe said. “Howard Miller has always had a deep connection with the people who bring these clocks into their homes. Our goal is to honor that legacy while building a company that carries it forward in a meaningful way.”
Howard Miller is using about 10 percent of its existing 372,000-square-foot space at 860 E. Main Ave. for the relaunch.
“We’re here, and for the foreseeable future we’re here in the building in Zeeland, in the same warehouse we were always shipping out of,” O’Keefe said.
The company has hired 13 employees, covering administration, customer service, operations, marketing and design, and has also hired a national outside sales force of 25-30 salespeople, O’Keefe said.
“Our people are from here, we want to be here, to grow here, and the sky’s the limit with a focus on what we’ve always been really successful with,” O’Keefe said.
The remaining building space not being used for the relaunch, including the original factory floor, is being repurposed.
“There’s some local guys that are interested in using the space … It’s cleaned out, it’s swept, it’s ready for a new occupant,” O’Keefe said.
The investor group that acquired Howard Miller includes executives who bring both strong business leadership and shared personal connection to the company brand.
“Howard Miller is a rare kind of brand — one with deep cultural roots and a legacy of craftsmanship that still resonates today,” Huizenga said. “This investment is as much emotional as it is strategic. We see an opportunity to not just preserve what Howard Miller has been, but to reintroduce what it can be for the next generation.”
“Howard Miller has long been a category leader in clocks, but it’s been under-leveraged emotionally. At its best, this brand helps people mark life’s most meaningful moments. That’s the opportunity in front of us; to reconnect the product to the role it plays in people’s lives,” McKendry added.
On July 10 of last year, Howard Miller announced that it was ending its manufacturing operations in Zeeland, Traverse City and North Carolina. The company remained open into early this year to sell its remaining inventory.
At the time, then-company president and chief executive officer Howard J. “Buzz” Miller said that “a convergence of market influences beyond our control” — including tariffs on parts for clocks being shipped into the U.S. from overseas — led the company to shut down.
“Our business has been directly impacted by tariffs that have increased the cost of essential components unavailable domestically and driven specialty suppliers out of business making it unsustainable for us to continue our operations,” Buzz Miller said in a company news release when the shutdown was announced.
It didn’t take long for potential buyers to take a look at acquiring the company.
“We started to receive some more interest, including the Huizenga Group and J.C. (Huizenga) in particular,” O’Keefe said. “He was committed to West Michigan and to the brand, he loved Howard Miller. We started conversations back in July, (Huizenga) came in and met with us, including Buzz Miller, the owner. We had various conversations over the months as we tried to figure out how … this deal would be structured, and who would run it.”
On March 9, the new ownership team finalized the deal to acquire Howard Miller, O’Keefe said.
Members of the Miller family will remain integrally involved as advisors, ensuring continuity with the company’s heritage as it enters this next phase.
“We are incredibly proud of what Howard Miller has represented for a century,” Buzz Miller said. “To see a group step forward that not only understands the business but genuinely values the legacy and what it means to this community, gives us great confidence in what comes next.”
The company was founded in 1926 by Howard C. Miller, whose father was office furniture manufacturing legend Herman Miller. At the time, it was known as the Herman Miller Clock Company. In the beginning, the company crafted fine chiming wall and mantel clocks out of the former Wolverine Furniture plant on Washington Avenue, former Zeeland Historical Society Katelyn VerMerris told the Zeeland Record last summer.
In 1938, the Herman Miller Clock Company went bankrupt. Howard Miller took $5,000 out of his personal bank account to buy what was left of the company. Two years later, Howard rented a portion of the Lowry-Sligh factory and clock manufacturing resumed. In 1941, Howard and his wife Martha filed articles of incorporation, formally naming the company the Howard Miller Clock Company, with the factory at 112 W. Washington Ave., according to the Zeeland Historical Society website.
The relaunched company will begin with a curated offering of its most recognized designs while ramping production of new and updated collections.
“We’ll be focused on our quartz clocks initially,” O’Keefe said. “The more expensive, Zeeland-produced (grandfather-style) clocks … we won’t be manufacturing to begin with. I’d love it if we could restart that, but the initial focus is going to be getting our best-selling quartz clocks that we’ve sold for many years back on our shelves.”
Product availability will scale through the coming months, with new designs expected to be introduced by the end of this year.
“For a century, Howard Miller has marked time beautifully. We know this work is about more than just continuing a product line. It is about preserving and growing a brand heritage that we are excited to keep moving forward,” O’Keefe said.
Zeeland Record
Ten months after Howard Miller Company announced that it was planning to shut down its business, a new ownership and leadership team is relaunching the Zeeland-based clock manufacturer.
In a news release issued last Thursday, Howard Miller announced that it is “now actively rebuilding with a curated product strategy centered on its most enduring categories: wall, mantel, tabletop and floor clocks.”
An ownership team headed up by The Huizenga Group, a West Michigan investment firm led by founder J.C. Huizenga, acquired the 100-year-old company earlier this spring. Other members of the ownership team include Phil Poel, executive vice president at Traeger Grills; Bill McKendry, founder and chief creative officer at BrandHaven; and Jim O’Keefe, Howard Miller’s former vice president of sales and marketing.
“It’s definitely exciting news,” Zeeland Mayor Rick Van Dorp said. “This iconic brand that’s been part of our Zeeland history for … 100 years, to close up shop was sad to see. We’re really grateful for the Huizenga Group and the folks from the management team that stuck around and resurrected this. I think it’s great news for the city and the area.”
Howard Miller Company is being led in the relaunch by O’Keefe and Director of Marketing Andrew Christmann.
“We felt a responsibility to build on an established tradition of quality workmanship and iconic design,” O’Keefe said. “Howard Miller has always had a deep connection with the people who bring these clocks into their homes. Our goal is to honor that legacy while building a company that carries it forward in a meaningful way.”
Howard Miller is using about 10 percent of its existing 372,000-square-foot space at 860 E. Main Ave. for the relaunch.
“We’re here, and for the foreseeable future we’re here in the building in Zeeland, in the same warehouse we were always shipping out of,” O’Keefe said.
The company has hired 13 employees, covering administration, customer service, operations, marketing and design, and has also hired a national outside sales force of 25-30 salespeople, O’Keefe said.
“Our people are from here, we want to be here, to grow here, and the sky’s the limit with a focus on what we’ve always been really successful with,” O’Keefe said.
The remaining building space not being used for the relaunch, including the original factory floor, is being repurposed.
“There’s some local guys that are interested in using the space … It’s cleaned out, it’s swept, it’s ready for a new occupant,” O’Keefe said.
The investor group that acquired Howard Miller includes executives who bring both strong business leadership and shared personal connection to the company brand.
“Howard Miller is a rare kind of brand — one with deep cultural roots and a legacy of craftsmanship that still resonates today,” Huizenga said. “This investment is as much emotional as it is strategic. We see an opportunity to not just preserve what Howard Miller has been, but to reintroduce what it can be for the next generation.”
“Howard Miller has long been a category leader in clocks, but it’s been under-leveraged emotionally. At its best, this brand helps people mark life’s most meaningful moments. That’s the opportunity in front of us; to reconnect the product to the role it plays in people’s lives,” McKendry added.
On July 10 of last year, Howard Miller announced that it was ending its manufacturing operations in Zeeland, Traverse City and North Carolina. The company remained open into early this year to sell its remaining inventory.
At the time, then-company president and chief executive officer Howard J. “Buzz” Miller said that “a convergence of market influences beyond our control” — including tariffs on parts for clocks being shipped into the U.S. from overseas — led the company to shut down.
“Our business has been directly impacted by tariffs that have increased the cost of essential components unavailable domestically and driven specialty suppliers out of business making it unsustainable for us to continue our operations,” Buzz Miller said in a company news release when the shutdown was announced.
It didn’t take long for potential buyers to take a look at acquiring the company.
“We started to receive some more interest, including the Huizenga Group and J.C. (Huizenga) in particular,” O’Keefe said. “He was committed to West Michigan and to the brand, he loved Howard Miller. We started conversations back in July, (Huizenga) came in and met with us, including Buzz Miller, the owner. We had various conversations over the months as we tried to figure out how … this deal would be structured, and who would run it.”
On March 9, the new ownership team finalized the deal to acquire Howard Miller, O’Keefe said.
Members of the Miller family will remain integrally involved as advisors, ensuring continuity with the company’s heritage as it enters this next phase.
“We are incredibly proud of what Howard Miller has represented for a century,” Buzz Miller said. “To see a group step forward that not only understands the business but genuinely values the legacy and what it means to this community, gives us great confidence in what comes next.”
The company was founded in 1926 by Howard C. Miller, whose father was office furniture manufacturing legend Herman Miller. At the time, it was known as the Herman Miller Clock Company. In the beginning, the company crafted fine chiming wall and mantel clocks out of the former Wolverine Furniture plant on Washington Avenue, former Zeeland Historical Society Katelyn VerMerris told the Zeeland Record last summer.
In 1938, the Herman Miller Clock Company went bankrupt. Howard Miller took $5,000 out of his personal bank account to buy what was left of the company. Two years later, Howard rented a portion of the Lowry-Sligh factory and clock manufacturing resumed. In 1941, Howard and his wife Martha filed articles of incorporation, formally naming the company the Howard Miller Clock Company, with the factory at 112 W. Washington Ave., according to the Zeeland Historical Society website.
The relaunched company will begin with a curated offering of its most recognized designs while ramping production of new and updated collections.
“We’ll be focused on our quartz clocks initially,” O’Keefe said. “The more expensive, Zeeland-produced (grandfather-style) clocks … we won’t be manufacturing to begin with. I’d love it if we could restart that, but the initial focus is going to be getting our best-selling quartz clocks that we’ve sold for many years back on our shelves.”
Product availability will scale through the coming months, with new designs expected to be introduced by the end of this year.
“For a century, Howard Miller has marked time beautifully. We know this work is about more than just continuing a product line. It is about preserving and growing a brand heritage that we are excited to keep moving forward,” O’Keefe said.
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