Of all the delights that come with owning a specialty gift store full of European items that appeal to nearly all of the senses, there are hidden dangers.

For Janine Verhulst, one such danger rests on a lower shelf just across from the cash register, placed strategically out of reach.

That’s where she keeps the packages of Red Band Wine Gums.

“Oh my gosh, I love those!” Verhulst said, lifting a package to admire them. “If you like anything remotely gummy …”

It’s been a little crazy the past month for Janine and Bastiaan Verhulst, adjusting as new owners of A Touch of Dutch in Coupeville.

But for the Verhulsts, there have been plenty of sweet and salty treats to help melt away any rough patches they encounter.

Bastiaan Verhulst, a business analyst born and raised in The Netherlands, never planned to purchase a Dutch specialty gift store when he and his family moved from Australia to Coupeville last October.

But he saw an ad on a Dutch Seattle social media page that listed a store looking for a new owner in the same town where they just moved. Half-jokingly, he mentioned the opportunity to his wife, who was looking for employment and finding the options limited on Whidbey Island.

She found the coincidence too uncanny to ignore.

“I felt like it was meant to be,” Janine said. “How often does a Dutch store go for sale in a town you’re living in?”

Especially when your husband is a native of Yerseke, a fishing village in the Dutch province of Zeeland.

The backdrop on Front Street near Penn Cove seemed a perfect fit.

“Where I was born, the main industry is mussel fishing,” Bastiaan said, noting another strange connection. “Mussels and oysters are what they do in my hometown.”

Despite a background in accounting, Bastiaan Verhulst and his wife knew they were going to be facing a steep learning curve running a popular store in the town’s tourism belt.

After months of gleaning knowledge from Misty Blanton, the store’s previous owner since 2003, the young couple has been on their own now for more than a month.

Mostly, it’s been Janine Verhulst, who grew up in Kent, holding down the storefront. But her husband helps too, when he can break away from his consulting job that he does mostly for an Australian mining company from their home in Admirals Cove.

“She’s been talking to me about using me as an attraction,” Bastiaan joked.

The Verhulsts lived 10 years in Australia before deciding they wanted to lay down roots in the United States to raise their two young children. Janine had lived on Whidbey before and they had come back to visit regularly.

The only thing foreign about the island now is adjusting to a new business venture that is built on an inventory that is mostly imported from Europe.

A Touch of Dutch has built a reputation for carrying a vast assortment of Dutch licorices, a hard-to-find Heritage Lace line, Northridge Gardens lotion bars and other food items and trinkets from The Netherlands, Germany and other parts of Europe.

The top sellers are two Dutch treats — stroopwafels and speculaas.

“We get 20 cases at a time and we still run out,” Janine said of the stroopwafels.

Most of the suppliers that Janine speaks with regularly are located on the East Coast. One supply truck with a much anticipated load recently wound up near Tacoma rather than Coupeville.

“It’s good,” Janine said of the first month. “It can be overwhelming, too, I have to admit.”

The Verhulsts hope to expand their inventory to include more specialty products from Norway and Sweden and add items from Australia. They’re carrying Beach Cove Jewelry made by a Coupeville jewelry maker who uses sea glass from the island.

They don’t plan to eliminate any of the products associated with their store, which also sells much of its inventory online.

“This is pretty cool actually,” Bastiaan said. “We kind of fell into the shop and we’ve hit the ground running.”

To learn more about A Touch of Dutch, visit www.atouchofdutch.com