[brigid68]

Husband and I will be relocating to CT from Washington DC. We currently own a deli and will continue in this business. We would like to know what cities in CT have more offices than others. Greenwich, Stamford, New Haven, Danbury. We are not sure what the major cities even are. Once we determine the best city to begin looking for an established deli/catering business in we will begin to look for a place to live. Ideally it would be a 20 minute drive, have great schools and plenty for kids and families to do.

Any help with city information would be greatly appreciated.

Brigid Gillette

[JViello]

Hartford or Stamford are the two "business" cities in CT. I *think* Hartford has more "offices" in Dowtown than Stamford right now...but Stamford has been growing quickly.

I'm a fan of Hartford because it's pretty much the only non lap dog, stand alone large city in CT.

[uconn99]

Hartford has the most corporate presence downtown. For a region of 1.3 million people, Hartford has more corportate presence then most.

[JViello]

Originally Posted by uconn99

Hartford has the most corporate presence downtown. For a region of 1.3 million people, Hartford has more corportate presence then most.

And just to expand on that note, Hartford does have some great density.

You can see here in the photo thread:

http://www.city-data.com/forum/conne...to-thread.html

[renovating]

Originally Posted by brigid68

Husband and I will be relocating to CT from Washington DC. We currently own a deli and will continue in this business. We would like to know what cities in CT have more offices than others. Greenwich, Stamford, New Haven, Danbury. We are not sure what the major cities even are. Once we determine the best city to begin looking for an established deli/catering business in we will begin to look for a place to live. Ideally it would be a 20 minute drive, have great schools and plenty for kids and families to do.

Any help with city information would be greatly appreciated.

Brigid Gillette

Are you looking to buy an established deli or are you looking at starting up your own company?

[7 Wishes]

I vote for Hartford for different reasons (though JViello's argument about density and "independently Connecticut" are certainly valid).

While Greenwich/Stamford/Danbury have more of a diverse corporate presence than Hartford due to it's proximity to NYC and many NY companies relocating there, as a result the rents are a LOT higher, including for businesses like your deli. The rents are much cheaper in New Haven and Hartford, and in the case of Hartford, you still have most of the major insurance companies, many financial companies (that did not fare as badly as the Wall St. ones), and lots of other business in a nice, concentrated downtown.

With New Haven, you're more likely to attract a student population and workers related to the higher education industry. Not bad at all, just a different set of clientele.

Good luck, whatever you do!

[arielmina]

If you do decide to consider Fairfield County, don't forget Norwalk. Especially on route 7, there's alot of business there and growing. Cheaper rents too than Stamford I believe.

[wavehunter007]

…just to expand on the above…but from another angle…

Having a spouse that works at Yale…consider Yale University has expensive catered events 12 months a year. I have been told that the Yale spent $16 million on OUTSIDE catering and venues last year just because the school cannot handle all the events (Yale has a small in –house catering service). Each major school within the University (the business school, the law school, the medical school…etc) several times each year holds events when academics from all over the world converge, this in addition to dozens of alumni events, staff/teacher conferences/dinners, hundreds of visiting Fellows, researchers, medical students in residencies, and of course 15,000 students in a rush with no time, and some - no place to make a meal…and you have a good shot at making it. New Haven also has its share of other business and professional offices, though smaller than Hartford and Stamford.

Some of the towns around New Haven like Branford, Guilford, Milford, Hamden might be a good choice.

[JayCT]

Connecticut is a very suburban state. You have a few larger cities (Stamford, Bridgeport, New Haven, Hartford, Waterbury, Danbury) that are small in area surrounded by independent towns. A lot of those towns have offices. Here in Glastonbury there is a lot of offices. A new deli opened a few months ago and is doing a booming business. I haven't been yet.

In general, there appears to be a need in the Hartford area for a good real New York style deli, especially a Kosher one. We have a few delis but they are hardly like the New York ones.

Fairfield county has a number of New York style deli's already established. not sure there is a need or big enough market for more. Jay

[7 Wishes]

Originally Posted by JayCT

In general, there appears to be a need in the Hartford area for a good real New York style deli, especially a Kosher one. We have a few delis but they are hardly like the New York ones.

Good point although Rein's is pretty big from what I can see, and I thought pretty darn good (and the owners are originally from NJ). In fact, when my brother-in-law lived in the Boston area a few years ago, my in-laws would always stop there when they went to go see him and they were quite impressed with it and they don't impress easy when it comes to "NY Style" delis.

Originally Posted by arielmina

If you do decide to consider Fairfield County, don't forget Norwalk. Especially on route 7, there's alot of business there and growing. Cheaper rents too than Stamford I believe.

Forgot about that and I second it (and I should've known better because my wife worked in Norwalk for several years....)