Frank H. Cooper built the world’s largest department store, complete with lighthouse
On the northern outskirts of Akkrum there is a magnificent complex of senior apartments set in a large, well-cared-for garden. It is called Coopersburg and it is known far and wide.
This is the story of the founder, Folkert Harmen Kuipers. Or rather Frank H. Cooper, as he preferred to be known in America, where he rose from salesclerk to owner of a unique complex of megastores. His fascinating life story is documented in Alle minsken binn’myn Broerren! Folkert Kuipers en 100 jaar Coopersburg (Everyone is my brother! Folkert Kuipers and 100 years of Coopersburg, 2001). The following account is based on the book by Ernst Huisman, Atze Reidinga, and Willem Winters.
Youth
Folkert Kuipers was born on 23 October 1843, on the corner of Boarnswâl and Wide Stege in Akkrum, where his grandfather Harmen Folkert s Kuipers worked as a kuiper or barrel-maker.... [download the complete story]
This is the story of the founder, Folkert Harmen Kuipers. Or rather Frank H. Cooper, as he preferred to be known in America, where he rose from salesclerk to owner of a unique complex of megastores. His fascinating life story is documented in Alle minsken binn’myn Broerren! Folkert Kuipers en 100 jaar Coopersburg (Everyone is my brother! Folkert Kuipers and 100 years of Coopersburg, 2001). The following account is based on the book by Ernst Huisman, Atze Reidinga, and Willem Winters.
Youth
Folkert Kuipers was born on 23 October 1843, on the corner of Boarnswâl and Wide Stege in Akkrum, where his grandfather Harmen Folkert s Kuipers worked as a kuiper or barrel-maker.... [download the complete story]