“It's for your future”, said my older sister while trying to convince me to help her move her tiny seasonal clothing store to a larger location.  Little did I know how true those words would become!  So reluctantly, at the urging of my husband and sister I agreed to help with the new store. 

Several years later after successfully growing the business, my sister wanted to retire and I took over.  At the end of that season, I realized it was time to look for a larger year round store.  On a whim, one beautiful fall afternoon in 2004, my girlfriend Wanda and I closed up our stores and took a ride to South Haven.  Upon investigating the town we looked at each other and said, “this is a no brainer”!  So the quest for a location in South Haven began.

I was able to rent a tiny space on the main street, hoping that a larger location would become available later and opened up Janny's Beach House in January of 2005.  That summer, as providence would have it, the old Cisco Bar came up for sale right next door.  This time my husband said, “We can't pass up this opportunity”.  I said, “We can't afford it” and was sure we were making the wrong choice.  He insisted and we remodeled and moved in that fall.  In February, he lost his job!  There we were, no income from him, a huge mortgage on a big old run down building and facing the slow winter months.  But amazingly, God provided with help from friends and our home sold just as the housing bubble was bursting.  We moved into a tiny apartment above the store.

I have been blessed in so many ways and though my father died when I was four, I think some of his entrepreneurial spirit rubbed off on me!  Ever since I was a kid I was always selling my hand made creations.  When I learned to sew, I started peddling doll clothes to the neighborhood children.  I secured the outfits to cardboard backing and wrapped them in Saran Wrap - my first entrepreneurial endeavor!

Through the years I had numerous business ventures both retail and wholesale.  I opened my first store when I was nineteen years old which only lasted a year.  I loved creating artsy fabric items and was always coming up with new ways to generate a little extra cash while the children were growing up.  Quilts, pillows, dolls, stenciled aprons and towels, ornaments, hand painted jackets, fabric wall hangings, fancy fringed scarves, inspirational gift baskets and more than I can even remember.  I continued painting on and off which still is probably my most favorite creative pastime.

A big opportunity came when a major national manufacturer of dishes and kitchen textiles saw my artwork and wanted to license my designs.  Before plans could be finalized, my husband, daughter and I were involved in a near fatal car accident and all my designing was put on hold.  I never stopped looking for ways to profitably produce and market my artwork and after the accident I discovered Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop and slowly began to create note cards, logos for several corporations, web pages, memorial folders and tee shirt designs.  The use of the computer opened up a whole new world of possibilities for design creativity and a more profitable way to bring goods to the market.  Some of those designs can now be found in the store.

One day, while painting my mother's house on a hot summer day with my uncle Murph, he told me the story of an idea he had when their family feed business was struggling.  He came up with a plan to give away baby chicks with the purchase of their brand of chicken feed.  He would load up the car with all those baby chicks and the farmers would be waiting at the stores to buy their feed just to get free chicks!  They sold more chicken feed that year than ever and because those chicks grew to be chickens and needed more food, business boomed!  He then said something to me I never forgot, “I know someday you are going to hit it honey, keep trying”. 

We never know where life's pathway will lead, but every day I see the hand of God graciously working, shaping, leading guiding.  Everyone has a life story; mistakes, trials, joys, struggles, disappointments, sacrifices, accomplishments, dreams.  When you get to be my age, you see more clearly that the preciousness of life, health, family, friends, faith and love are the most important gifts in life.  

Well, here I am, forty years after uncle Murph's advice on that hot summer day, still trying, but I think, with God's help, I have finally “hit it”.  A beautiful store in a wonderful resort town where generations of families come to relax, simplify, refresh and reconnect.  A simple life where the sunsets are glorious, the air sweet and fresh, the water clear and the pace is slow

--a future I never imagined!

If you're in the area, stop in and see us!  We are open year round six days a week and are pleased to offer you wonderful brands of clothing, accessories and gifts for men and women at fair prices and the best part, we count each and every one of you not just customers, but friends!

Blessings to you all and thanks for shopping with us!

Janny