Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants & Hotels
Serving Up a Big Helping of Hospitality
Dennis and Nancy Quaintance have built a successful company where growth has come as a by-product of their primary goal: Taking care of people.
When the couple and Mike Weaver founded Greensboro-based Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants & Hotels in 1988, they weren't chasing the biggest hospitality company they could build. Instead, they were pursuing something much simpler.
"We focus on what's optimal instead of what's maximum," Dennis says.
In 1988, Dennis and Nancy Quaintance (above) along with Mike Weaver, founded what has become one of North Carolina’s most respected hospitality companies.
Nearly four decades later, that philosophy has grown into one of North Carolina's most respected hospitality companies. The organization of 700 employee-owners includes celebrated restaurants such as Green Valley Grill, Print Works Bistro, and Lucky 32 Southern Kitchen, as well as the nationally recognized O.Henry Hotel and Proximity Hotel.
"We don't try to be clever," he says. "We just show up and endeavor to take great care of our guests and our colleagues." That mindset comes from experience. Both Dennis and Nancy began working in hospitality when they were just 15 years old, learning early that genuine service never goes out of style.
Fine dining is on the menu at the Green Valley Grill, located adjacent to the O.Henry Hotel, named after the Greensboro native.
"People who dine in restaurants and stay in hotels expect us to be competent and friendly," Dennis says. "They expect the facilities to have a wonderful ambiance and to be meaningful, and the food to taste great."
The company has expanded thoughtfully over the years, but never for the sake of becoming larger. Dennis says every new venture has been driven by an opportunity to better serve guests while creating opportunities for the people who make the company successful.
Nancy says the move into hotels reflected that same philosophy. After establishing a reputation through its restaurants, the company recognized an opportunity to create distinctive lodging experiences that complemented its hospitality mission while strengthening Greensboro's appeal as a destination.
That long-term perspective also inspired the company's transition to 100 percent employee ownership.
The Proximity Hotel is a luxury hotel that earned the first LEED Platinum award for its sustainability features.
For Dennis, the decision was rooted in preserving the culture and values that have defined the business since its founding while giving the people who help to build its success a meaningful stake in its future.
"Who better to carry forward the founding ideas than the people who live and work here every day?" he says.
The company's commitment extends well beyond its own walls. Nancy believes it's important that Quaintance-Weaver Restaurants & Hotels be not only in the community, but of the community, supporting organizations, events, and initiatives that contribute to Greensboro's quality of life.
"We've always felt embraced by Greensboro," she says. "Part of doing well here is doing good. I want Quaintance-Weaver to be an integral part of each fiber of the warp and weft of the communities we serve.”
That connection has helped make the company's restaurants and hotels destinations for both residents and visitors alike, while reinforcing the idea that locally owned businesses can help define the character of a city.
The same emphasis on relationships led Dennis and Nancy to TowneBank. After more than three decades with another financial institution, they moved both their business and personal banking relationships to TowneBank because they found a partner whose approach closely mirrored their own. They work with Scott Baker, Triad president, and Jawn Hendrix, senior vice president and private banker.
"They really listen," Dennis says. "They see us as who we are instead of just another account."
For the Quaintances, enduring success has never been about opening the next restaurant or building the next hotel. It's about creating places where guests feel welcome, colleagues feel valued, communities grow stronger, and a culture of hospitality continues for generations to come.
