Best town to open an upscale farm-to-table restaurant (Richmond, Roanoke: new home, high school)

[travelerjp98]

Good evening folks!
I'm in high school and pursuing an investigation for my business class and I need your guys' help!

Just a little about myself: I always spend time on this forum so I'm now happy to become a part of it. I'm also a member on forums on tripadvisor (love traveling!) and saltwaterfish.com (I'm not as active on there as it's a former hobby).

Anyways... here is the situation where I need the help:
Here in PA we have a small chain called "Harvest," a high-end farm-to-table restaurant (Around $30/40+ pp). The parent company, Dave Magrogan Group, wants to expand operations to neighboring states. Naturally, Virginia is one of them especially because of it's large growth opportunities and high-end towns/developments. I'm trying to write a paper revolving around a question similar to (but can be changed if I find something interesting) "Would opening a new location in ____, VA be an effective decision for DMG, Inc?"

Town names, and any information on population/business climate/competition would be appreciated! I'd also love some personal statements so I can use them as first-hand research!

Looking forward to engaging discussion!
Justin

[newvadad]

I'd suggest looking into new areas along 15 and 29, near the vineyards. New homes, disposable income, growth potential. Bristow, Gainesville, and even Manassas comes to mind.
This area is starting to fill up on chain restaurants and none of which have the sustainable, local sourced, non-GMO, farm-to-table theme that is trending.

[spencgr]

Loudoun County - Since this is your homework project, I'll let you do the research on demographics/ business competition.

[LionLady]

Hmmm. Thinking that Baltimore County, Howard County and Carroll County (MD) would also be very goog places to investgate. Glyndon, Westminster, Eldersburg, Frederick, Hagarstown, MD are a few towns that would probably support such an enterprise (we lived in and outisde Baltimore for 25+ years).
I'm also thinking that Fredericksburg, Front Royal,and Charlottesville, VA are possibilities, with a fair number of both locals and tourists who would patronize such a place.

[thekingsguard]

Farmville might be a good location, as I know they're trying to attract businesses like that, as would really anywhere on the arc between Richmond to Lynchburg to Roanoke.

[Dequindre]

Winchester has many residents who came from more urban/suburban areas closer to D.C., so I can see a restaurant like that doing well there. Winchester also has a lovely downtown section with many small shops and art galleries.

[Jeuno]

If you're still needing the info: Leesburg, Ashburn, Hamilton, etc VA. Any town found on Rt 7 West of DC this would probably work. There's a lot of hipsters that live out that way that don't mind paying $30 a plate for leaves grown in the owners back yard, garden or wherever. As long as there's wine/beer, people will come.

[travelerjp98]

Thanks for the input, residents! Hopefully more input will fuel even better insight into this research paper.