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It started with a napkin.
In 1984, Sally Troutman was waiting tables when she served Art Daane, owner of On Track — a running, skateboard, and cross-country ski shop on Butler Street. Art hired her on the spot. Sally had a gift for retail, and she quickly became his buyer. When a tenant in the Heath Building vacated a space next to On Track, Sally saw an opportunity. She sketched a shark on a napkin and pitched Art her idea: a dedicated shop selling Saugatuck, Michigan, and beach-inspired t-shirts and sweatshirts. Art said yes. Landsharks was born in 1989.
By 1995, Sally and her husband Ken Troutman purchased Landsharks, On Track, and the Heath Building from Art. They renovated the building, merged the two stores into one, kept the corner location, and carried the Landsharks name forward. What had started as a napkin sketch became an anchor of downtown Saugatuck.
In 2017, Ken and Sally passed the store to their son David and his wife Casey — a transition that puts Landsharks in rare company. Fewer than 20% of family retail businesses survive into a second generation. Landsharks didn't just survive. It's thriving, and this year was named to Michigan's 50 Businesses to Watch.
David grew up in this building. He went to Douglas Elementary, graduated from Saugatuck High School, coached youth hockey and soccer, and substituted in the local schools. Casey has taught at Douglas Elementary for 23 years. Their daughters, Sylvie and Lily, both attend the public school in town — and both work the sales floor alongside their parents.
That tells you something about how we run this place.
David and Casey are not in the back office. They're on the floor beside a team they genuinely love. We think we have the kindest staff in Saugatuck — not because we say so, but because of how they show up every day. Our average team member stays with us for seven years, which means locals and returning visitors are almost always greeted by a familiar face. In the past ten years, we've had at least three sets of related employees on payroll at any given time — siblings, cousins, six sets of mothers and sons or daughters, and even married couples working side by side. There's a reason people want to work here, and a reason they stay.
We don't do pushy. We don't do transactional. We give honest recommendations on hiking trails, restaurants, and places to stay. We treat every customer — first-timer or twenty-year regular — with genuine care. In the past ten years, we've written over 7,500 handwritten thank-you cards. That's not a marketing strategy. That's just how we were raised to treat people.
We're selective on purpose. Landsharks is a hybrid that's hard to categorize: part serious outdoor outfitter, part neighborhood boutique, part Michigan-made goods shop. We carry the best outdoor brands in the world — Patagonia, Kuhl, Hoka, On Running, Smartwool, Carve Designs, FreeFly — alongside more than 20 Michigan-based brands, some of which produce artwork exclusively for us. We stand behind every product we sell, and we choose brands that stand behind their own people and the environment.
In the winter, we rent cross-country skis and snowshoes. Ask us where to use them. We know every trail.
We love Saugatuck the way you love a place you chose and a place that chose you back.
Our family — David, Casey, Sylvie, and Lily — volunteers monthly at the Community Action House in Holland. We donate to more than 30 local nonprofits, including the Boys & Girls Club, Hospice of Holland, Harbor Humane Society, Resilience, Else's Place, City on the Hill, Friends of Saugatuck Middle School, and Douglas Elementary's Rock the Walk. Over the past decade, we've contributed thousands to our local schools.
This year, we launched the Landsharks Entrepreneurial and Business Leadership Scholarship — a $1,500 award for a Saugatuck High School senior pursuing business or entrepreneurship, whether that means college, trade school, or launching their own venture right out of the gate.
We shop local ourselves. We champion our neighbors. We send people to other Saugatuck businesses without a second thought, because a town that thrives together is better for all of us.
Almost 40 years in, the Shark is still swimming — and we couldn't be more grateful that you're here.
Please come say hello.
