Best place to open a Prepared,Specialty Foods store? (transplants, condo)

[Monicaif]

Hello all.
We are new to this thread. My husband and I are now in Chicago, and planning to move NC and open a business. After 20+ years working as executive chef for high end catering events in and around Chicago, DH is planning to open a prepared and specialty foods store--think appetizers for parties or gourmet dinners at home--somewhere in NC. He has already created a business like this in Chicago, but this time around he'd like to be the owner and proprietor, and not just the chef. He's ready to work for himself and fulfill his dreams

I graduated from NCSU and have always wanted to move back to the area and be near my college friends who settled there. So I am very excited.

Our first need is to discern what community in NC would be best for a business such as his. Any thoughts on the best location?

His ideal customer would be a foodie who holds dinner parties, is willing to spend $50 on a bottle of wine or $30-$50 for a dozen appetizers ($3 per) for their dinner party or event. They probabaly would live within 20 minutes of the store. His ideal location would be a strip mall with a lot of foot traffic and high end retail.

His food is amazing, and he's done parties for people ranging from the Dalai Lama to Jennifer Anniston and Vince Vaughan. We know he'll be a success, if we can find the right area to tap.

Any advice would be GREATLY appreciated. After we choose where to have his business, we'd then do househunting nearby.

Thank you, really, for any and all advice...

- Monica

[Gurl]

Sounds like a FABULOUS idea.

I'm fairly new to the area (less than 18 months), but I think that you might do best in an area with a high degree of transplants. I'm a transplant, and miss the convenience of getting yummy prepared foods.

Have you checked the area around Whole Foods? Their traffic might be interested in what you're describing.

Whatever you do, please send me a DM when you're up and running. I"m SO there.

ETA
One possibility...over near SouthPoint Mall, there's a shopping center that has a Middle Eastern restaurant, a sushi restaurant, and a high-end kitchen remodling store (among other things like a Harris Teeter, etc). The sushi place does HUGE business. HUGE - friday and sat night, you can barely park anywhere because of the sushi place. The middle eastern place also does very well (I eat there 4 or 5 times a week). That might want to be a place you want to 'scope'. There are two luxury condo developments going up nearby, so that might also add traffic.

[megesp]

There are many people who post to Chowhound.com who would be a great resource for your questions - go to:

South - Chowhound