Houston Mississippi would it be a good place to invest? (Hattiesburg: for sale, house)

[PEP]

Hello, I was considering opening up a business in Houston Mississippi however I have No idea what the town needs.

There is a property there that is available which has a home sitting on 32 areas of land, one of my ideas was to have a bed and breakfast or a liquor store, or a lounge/pub/bar on the property.

Are these idea's frowned upon in Houston Mississippi?

Any idea what type of buisness would support hiring at least 10 employees?

Thank you

Look forward to any suggestions.

PEP

[quintab]

Originally Posted by PEP

Hello, I was considering opening up a business in Houston Mississippi however I have No idea what the town needs.
... or a liquor store, or a lounge/pub/bar on the property

Mississippi has some strange liquor laws! Better check to see if the town and/or county is Wet or Dry first!

[foxfire4860]

I have to say I wouldn't recommend putting a business in Houston. First of all anything liquor-related is out since it is a dry town. Secondly, it is a small town both population-wise and in most other aspects. Not a whole lot of people there or much else going on around it to attract people. Just a small, somewhat poor, typical Mississippi town.

If you're determined to do something there, I would recommend perhaps something like a fast-food franchise store, or just some sort of restaurant, because a little town like that needs those sort of places and they tend to do better than other kinds of businesses that come in. I honestly think the town would benefit greatly from a Super Wal-Mart rather than the small Wal-Mart it has now, but that's not likely to happen anytime soon.

[SashaBlue]

No. Don't go there.

[auntbee]

Unless you're prepared for the culture shock of small town Mississippi, I have to say no too.

[rsalter66]

Originally Posted by auntbee

Unless you're prepared for the culture shock of small town Mississippi, I have to say no too.

what do you mean " culture shock + small town Mississippi" I am looking for small town country life is this what you mean

[JMT]

Originally Posted by rsalter66

what do you mean " culture shock + small town Mississippi" I am looking for small town country life is this what you mean

I lived in Mississippi for a few years and can answer this question. I don't claim to be an expert, but I'll give you my impressions.

There's small-town culture, and then there's Mississippi small-town culture. It's unlike anywhere else in the US, except maybe West TN and Eastern AR.

Don't get me wrong, I love Mississippi and am a proud graduate of Ole Miss. However, Mississippi really is unlike anywhere else in the US (which is not necessarily bad). For starters, even small towns in Mississippi have their "good" parts of town and their "bad" parts of town. I'd never seen so much class segregetation in my life as in Mississippi small towns. And I never knew that small towns could have dangerous neighborhoods until I lived in Mississippi. That's particularly true in the Delta.

I will never forget going into a clothing store in a small town in North Mississippi, and the store owner actually told me that his clothes are only for white people; he didn't allow black people to enter his store, and the black people in that town knew better than to even try. I was too stunned to ask him what he would do if a black person from out of town wanted to buy something there.

Most small towns also have private schools for people of a particular social class, and everyone else has to attend the poorly-funded public schools.

Some high schools have a white homecoming queen and a black homecoming queen. At least it was like that a few years ago, it might have changed since then.

While it's slowly changing, you'll still find a lot of voluntary segregation in small Missisippi towns. With a few exceptions, churches are generally segregated (by choice), country clubs are generally segregated, and neighborhoods are generally segregated. Things are beginning to change, but compared to most of the rest of the country, Mississippi has a ways to go. I'm not saying that this is inherently bad, since people of all races generally prefer to live around people who look and behave like them, but it's different from the rest of the US.

Not everywhere in Mississippi is like that, of course. DeSoto County, Hattiesburg, Oxford, Tupelo, and most of the Gulf Coast come to mind as exceptions to the Mississippi rule. I'm sure there are other places, too.

Again, I proudly wave my Battle M and have my Ole Miss Alumni sticker on my car, and I still get teary-eyed when I go back to visit Mississippi. But it really is different from the rest of the country.

[LoneWolf2421]

Originally Posted by JMT

I lived in Mississippi for a few years and can answer this question. I don't claim to be an expert, but I'll give you my impressions.

There's small-town culture, and then there's Mississippi small-town culture. It's unlike anywhere else in the US, except maybe West TN and Eastern AR.

Don't get me wrong, I love Mississippi and am a proud graduate of Ole Miss. However, Mississippi really is unlike anywhere else in the US (which is not necessarily bad). For starters, even small towns in Mississippi have their "good" parts of town and their "bad" parts of town. I'd never seen so much class segregetation in my life as in Mississippi small towns. And I never knew that small towns could have dangerous neighborhoods until I lived in Mississippi. That's particularly true in the Delta.

I will never forget going into a clothing store in a small town in North Mississippi, and the store owner actually told me that his clothes are only for white people; he didn't allow black people to enter his store, and the black people in that town knew better than to even try. I was too stunned to ask him what he would do if a black person from out of town wanted to buy something there.

Most small towns also have private schools for people of a particular social class, and everyone else has to attend the poorly-funded public schools.

Some high schools have a white homecoming queen and a black homecoming queen. At least it was like that a few years ago, it might have changed since then.

While it's slowly changing, you'll still find a lot of voluntary segregation in small Missisippi towns. With a few exceptions, churches are generally segregated (by choice), country clubs are generally segregated, and neighborhoods are generally segregated. Things are beginning to change, but compared to most of the rest of the country, Mississippi has a ways to go. I'm not saying that this is inherently bad, since people of all races generally prefer to live around people who look and behave like them, but it's different from the rest of the US.

Not everywhere in Mississippi is like that, of course. DeSoto County, Hattiesburg, Oxford, Tupelo, and most of the Gulf Coast come to mind as exceptions to the Mississippi rule. I'm sure there are other places, too.

Again, I proudly wave my Battle M and have my Ole Miss Alumni sticker on my car, and I still get teary-eyed when I go back to visit Mississippi. But it really is different from the rest of the country.

You said it right. I was born and raised in North Mississippi. I dont understand why people think segergation is so bad We naturally done it there and it worked great. We all get along. (White/Blacks) We respect each other and even help each other when nessecary. But we stayed segergated in Community,chuch,to some extent even in public schools. Our system works great. No problems or tension.

[mswalker3]

I am a native of Houston, MS. I feel the town is a good profit only if the right kind of business is opened. We have a great deal of traffic coming through the town, but really no good bargain to shop for. A Supercenter would opened up a lot of jobs for people. A good eating restaurant open on Sunday would be nice. So people would not have to go to Tupelo to eat. A good shoe store or a nice grocery store to bring some competition. Sorry to say we are a wet county, but there is no different in this town than any other town.

[slindstrom]

Houston is a very poor town....businesses have a really hard time there. Try looking in Tupelo....
A great retirement certified city with new Toyota plant opening this year, along with great schools, clean, growing town.

Check out my house for sale...and there are many others available...
I Moderator cut: sorry. no advertising Thanks,
Sherrie