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Personally, I live just down the street from the Arboretum.
We eat dinner in that shopping center maybe 2x a week (NOT McDonald's) and would love a good Indian restaurant. Can't help you with lunch though, my wife is a school teacher, and my business is in Indian Trail.
We live near Arboretum. There are 3 Indian restaurants in the area -- Tamarind, Bombay Cuisine both on or close to Pineville Matthews road, and another Cafe Nirvana on Lancaster Hwy (a little south, but worth the drive). I have found the Tamarind is lacking crowd, Cafe Nirvana is doing good. Have never been to Bombay Cusine, so no idea. There is also a huge Indian population in this area, so you can get good business if the tastes are ethnic -- reason why Cafe Nirvana is doing good. Best of Luck.
Thanks for your feed back mine is lunch between $7 to $10 dollars and dinner between $8 to $12 dollars. I am bit confusing about present recession, loss of jobs (Wachovia and Bank of America) and I have to invest two hundred thousand. This is the right or Wrong time to open a business (I will open around March 2009). Please give me your feed back.
Regards
Vajja
In times of recession people still need to spend money on small things that make life seem better and more enjoyable. When women don't have money --- they still buy lipstick and chocolate.
Food is one of those things that we all tend to spend a little extra on to make ourselves feel better. I say go ahead and open, keep your prices low (yours look about right) and make sure people receive substantial portions for the price. Offer coupons and incentives (specials, discount nights etc). Oh and if possible... deliver..... there just aren't enough places that deliver.
Business may not boom right away, but you will develop a loyal following...and word of mouth takes time to spread. Recessions create opportunities. Good luck.
There are no decent indian restaurants up in Lake Norman. Man a good curry would be great!
WRONG!!!! There is one in Cornelius, or at least used to be, Sangrum's like the other poster said. If you do not LOVE that, then you don't like Indian. I can understand how you might not know, it is a bit out of the way, but we were pleasantly surprised and went back A LOT.
Again, it all depends on your location. People have to eat. Lunch business will work in your favor if you have a buffet. I suggest buffet as you will generally attract workers during lunch hours. Buffets tend to tone down the hotness of Indian dishes making it tasty but not unbearably hot or spicy for customers. Dinner (evening meal) tends to attract us curry experts that like our vindaloos, tikka marsalas, etc. We know what we want so specialties should be served. Nevertheless, you need to do some market research. Go to various shopping areas and look at the lunchtime traffic and dinner traffic. The places that I would check first are on I-77 north, exit 25 in the Lowes/Target shopping center area. That is a high traffic area. Next, I would check off exit 28 "Shops on the Green" and around the Pennincula shopping center. There are several options in the area. Traffic in these areas is high and there are lots of workers. Most importantly, the place you choose must be very visable to passersby. But, check out these areas, talk to occupants in the shops, and look decide. Don't speculate, check it out. Good luck.
Personally, I live just down the street from the Arboretum.
We eat dinner in that shopping center maybe 2x a week (NOT McDonald's) and would love a good Indian restaurant. Can't help you with lunch though, my wife is a school teacher, and my business is in Indian Trail.
Gosh Mullman, you live in Indian Trail and you don't have an Indian restaurant? Where did those guys go that made the trails? LOL.
Presently foodservice costs have been going up all year and typically in Jan. they go up anyway. There is usually a $500 min. on your order to get free delivery. There will be a gas surcharge on top of any order between $7 to $10
You also need to have a good savings to back you up. Budget a good amount for advertising b/c it is very expensive. One week of advertising on the radio is anywhere from $1500 to $2000 per WEEK. Just to place a want-ad in the Observer for the weekend (2 days) is almost $1,000. If you don't believe me, check it out. You can utilize the Charlotte Observer for any of their Neighbors section free ads, but getting the word out there is hard and expensive. Use Craig's List and other free websites like Kwijiji. Although word of mouth is the best advertising, it is also the slowest. I would say, have enough back up money so that you can put into in from your personal money if you need to make payroll, advertising, etc., for at least 2 if not 3 years.
Keep in mind also that whatever you put into the upfit, if you have to close or when you give up the lease, you don't get much back. Equipment, even if purchased new, depreciates VERY quickly. Just like a car, once you drive it off the lot, it depreciates. If you can't make it financially, unless your biz is making money, it is very difficult to sell it and it could take a year or more to do so. Have your lawyer check over your lease very well b/c there are sometimes hidden obligations and requirements that most entrapeneurs don't catch.
My biggest advice is, don't do it alone! You will burn out! Foodservice is a VERY hard biz. Have people lined up that you know that you can depend on. Possibly consider a partner. Ultimately, everything falls on you b/c it is your restaurant, your name, your reputation. When the work is not done, you will be the one staying to get it done, at least for the first 2 to 5 years.
This is just MHO based on experience. Take it for what it is worth. I wish someone would have told me but then again, would I have listened.
As per my research I found Arboretum location (It’s a busy location and Foot traffic). Can you please provide me your suggestions (information) about this Arboretum location (in corner of Providence and Pineville Mathews Rd?). Thanks Jack and we are Two partners and we have 10 yrs of experience in restaurant industry i will consider your suggestions. Please let me know your view about arboretum location about lunch and dinner crowd (who knows about arboretum in South charlotte)
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