Amway grew from two Ada basements and stayed in town

Drive east out of Grand Rapids on Fulton Street and you will reach Amway’s world headquarters in Ada Township. The large campus holds offices, laboratories, and manufacturing. It is quite a footprint for a company that began in two basements nearby.

Jay Van Andel and Rich DeVos were childhood friends. They’d already tried a handful of ventures together before this one stuck. They founded Amway in 1959, working out of the basements of their own homes in Ada. The thing took off through the 1960s. What’s notable is what they didn’t do. They didn’t decamp for a coast or a bigger market. The company grew into a global business while staying put in a small West Michigan town.

Amway is still owned by the DeVos and Van Andel families. Their names later became familiar across Grand Rapids through institutions they founded or helped support, including Van Andel Arena, Van Andel Institute, DeVos Place, and Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital.

You do not have to hold any particular opinion of direct selling to understand why this story matters locally. A business that started in two Ada homes stayed in Ada, grew far beyond Michigan, and helped reshape the civic map of the city next door.