Tell me more about Hermann

[ShadowCaver]

Originally Posted by katr

thank you SO much for the honest input. I've been talking to a couple of realtors and had almost convinced myself to buy a house sight unseen. Hermann does sound like a lovely place though, and if I didnt already have lots of supplies prepared for a shoppe, I might stll consider it. I guess I'll have to contact the really lovely realtor I've been talking with.

Again, thanks SO much! Oh, I took a bit to respond to this because I dont know how to track messages I respond to, or that come in. I'll keep playing with the site though.

lol, OB is nothing but honest... and a few other terms too Seriously, he does ofttimes bring to surface aspects that do indeed need stating. And in this case especially, I highly agree with his advice. Hermann is indeed a lovely town, very historic. However, the area, as most of the country, is hurting economically, and opening a business that only caters to one niche market, actually anywhere, IMHO would be quite fragile. Realize that you'd be competing with the multiple wineries, which are well established, plus microbrews, and other little shops... maybe if offered to open your shoppe in conjunction with one of them? In any case, good luck on your decision and plans.

[ozarksboy]

Originally Posted by stepka

There was a tea shop called Patricia's in Dexter Mo for years and it was quite popular--they had a gift shop attached and did pictures and had parties for girls and desserts and pastries and it was a really nice place. I think one in Hermann would be do-able b/c it's a close enough drive from St. Louis and if you start one I'll come drink tea in it! Go for the church lady crowd and you can't go wrong.

As I told Katr, many on city-data would support such an endeavor. When it comes to business, I am quite cautious and pessimistic. You likely have a much more balanced business sense than I, Stepka, so Katr should listen to you and open a tea shop or tea shoppe or tea room in Hermann.

It would be sad state of affairs for someone to come all the way from England to invest his or her life savings to set up a successful business and not do it in Missouri, which needs successful businesses, simply because I said it might be risky.

[Old Trafford]

Originally Posted by katr

thank you SO much for the honest input. I've been talking to a couple of realtors and had almost convinced myself to buy a house sight unseen. Hermann does sound like a lovely place though, and if I didnt already have lots of supplies prepared for a shoppe, I might stll consider it. I guess I'll have to contact the really lovely realtor I've been talking with.

Again, thanks SO much! Oh, I took a bit to respond to this because I dont know how to track messages I respond to, or that come in. I'll keep playing with the site though.

Could be a very rewarding venture, depends on how you execute it. Hermann currently has 2 high end coffee house (meaning more than Maxwell House in a pot) that carry espresso, latte and cappuccino, with some baked goods. One has been around about 3 years and seems to do OK, they are open in the off season (roughly Christmas to April or May) The other is about 2 years old, I don’t know how they are doing. There was another one a few years ago that was open for about 4 years, don’t know why it closed, offseason may have killed them.

Hermann gets a lot of tourists in the Fall and Kriskindlmarkt at Christmas. Maifest in May and various other little festivals make the tourist season last about 8 months out of the year, your weekends would be busy, weekdays slower. The town continues to develop more interesting attractions, the Tin Mill Restaurant is under way, living history farm has been slowed by the economy but is still tracking.

I would take a weekend next time you are in the US and check it out. The town is still pretty much Germanic, but like everywhere; the outside world has crept in and watered down the old culture, though there seems to be a movement in recent years to return to Hermann’s roots. They just unveiled a statue of Hermann (hero of Germany) when you enter town, more buildings have been rehabbed; there is renewed interest in music. Still waiting for the “Duetches sprek” to return, also for the life of me it seems that no one can open a good reasonable German Restaurant (there are plenty of places that have 1 or 2 German items)

A tea room could be a great fit, the town attracts lots of women over 50, without sounding sexist, I assume that would be your target demographic? Like I said though, learn the market, do you want this to be a fluffy place that would attract a certain demographic? Traditional English high tea? The Germans have a similar afternoon break with coffee, tea and torts, no clotted cream, but would that be more fitting? Think about the off season, can you go 3 or 4 months with little activity?

Keep us posted

[54DesignGroup]

My wife and I considered moving to Hermann and decided to take a trip to see things in person, I have to say we were disappointed in what we found and what we were told. Things looked a little rough around town and from what many people told us the electric bills are artificially high due to some issue with the city...you might want to check this out. We ended up moving to Mexico, it's a small community, many homes for sale at reasonable prices and close to Columbia.

[katr]

Originally Posted by stepka

There was a tea shop called Patricia's in Dexter Mo for years and it was quite popular--they had a gift shop attached and did pictures and had parties for girls and desserts and pastries and it was a really nice place. I think one in Hermann would be do-able b/c it's a close enough drive from St. Louis and if you start one I'll come drink tea in it! Go for the church lady crowd and you can't go wrong.

Stepka - it's a deal! I'll look forward to seeing you there.