New Business in Cedar Rapids (Colo, Wyoming: co-op, quality of life, organic)

[ryanlavine]

My wife and I have posted on here before and our inquiry has been met with generosity and bounding knowledge from many of you. We're grateful for the input, so I wanted to pose another question -

We're looking into moving to Cedar Rapids as a 'quality of life' move within 1-3 years (We've lived just north of Seattle, Spokane, Casper & Houston - we'd go back to Wyoming, but opportunities are simply too limited for us).
I am interested in opening a small retail store (have not chosen exactly which type yet). My questions to both small business owners and customers are:

1. How long does it take for a new business to thrive in CR?
2. Business owners - what do you do to grow in CR?
3. Customers - what makes you a customer of a new small business in CR?
4. What kind of business does CR need more of?

Thanks so much for any feedback you're able to offer.

[smpliving]

I think a small deli and/or restaurant with a healthy food menu, a few good wines and specialty beers would go over well in CR, especially downtown ... local musicians at night in the background while dining. Casual, nothing too fancy, like this ... Great Live Music. Awesome Catering. The Best in Cedar Rapids. CR is slowly getting better but still lacks when it comes to dining options other than chains. The area is getting more health conscious/organic with the recent opening of Fresh Market and Pioneer Co-Op grocery stores, and a few other smaller healthy food retail stores. JMO