Chris Weavers
Owner, JW’s Food & Spirits & J-Dub’s Market & Wine Shop
Chris Weavers never planned on becoming a restaurateur. But when her father offered her an opportunity to return home to Grand Haven to run a restaurant, she took the leap—and spent the next three decades learning what it really takes to build a sustainable business.
In this episode, host Amy Atkinson talks with Chris about the difficult early years, learning to trust her own instincts, balancing business ownership and motherhood, navigating challenging economic seasons and COVID, and eventually expanding into J-Dub’s Market & Wine Shop.
It’s a candid conversation about perseverance, confidence, community and why, for Chris, failure was simply never an option.
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⏱️ Timecodes:
00:00:00 — Podcast Introduction: Introducing Chris Weavers, Owner of JW’s Food and Spirits.
00:05:50 — Purchasing the Restaurant: Chris describes her dad’s unexpected phone call offering to buy The Hangar so she could return to her hometown.
00:09:52 — Challenges Buying & Owning: Facing low margins, lack of experience, and wearing every hat from cooking while pregnant to bookkeeping.
00:13:30 — Discussion About Her Dad: Working together, butting heads, taking on full management responsibility, and the pressure after his passing.
00:20:20 — Success as a Business Owner: Turnaround strategies, implementing a POS system, and thriving through the 2007–2008 recession.
00:25:00 — Highlights About Centertown & Grand Haven: Community support, local collaboration, and the evolution of the Centertown business district.
00:26:00 — Success as a Business Owner: Expanding into the neighboring property to launch J-Dub’s Market & Wine Shop.
00:38:30 — Challenges Buying & Owning: Pivoting during COVID-19 by transforming into a local essential market and fulfilling takeout orders.
00:44:50 — Success as a Business Owner: Developing wine expertise, earning certifications, and starting her podcast, Pour Decisions.
00:51:20 — Highlights About Centertown & Grand Haven: Highlighting community events like Chow Down Centertown and reflecting on 32 years of perseverance.
Chris Weavers is a Grand Haven native whose unexpected journey into the restaurant business began more than 30 years ago when her father offered her an opportunity to return home and take over what was then The Hangar. With no previous restaurant experience, Chris learned the business from the ground up—working behind the bar, in the kitchen and everywhere in between while navigating the challenges of entrepreneurship and raising a family.
Over time, she transformed the restaurant into JW’s Food & Spirits, a year-round Grand Haven favorite known for consistency, hospitality and a loyal local following. In 2016, Chris expanded next door with J-Dub’s Market & Wine Shop, combining her growing passion and knowledge of wine with specialty foods, cheeses, gifts and JW’s favorites to go.
Today, Chris remains deeply invested in Grand Haven and its business community, bringing the same perseverance, curiosity and commitment to community that have shaped more than three decades of business ownership.
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