If youhave ever been in the corner food market business -- talk me out of it

[KurtNYC]

I have what seems like a very cheap opportunity to go into a business which would sell local food (produced within 110 miles; Locavore) including grass fed beef, free range chicken, turkey, duck, deer, locally raised seafood, local cheese and dairy, fresh bread, local flowers, chocolate and local farm stand produce: apples, greens, fresh herbs. $600/month for a prime location which already launched a similar business (high end imported gourmet food -- we would go against them with local, reasonably priced food that is fresh).

I'm trying to project numbers and see what kind of foot traffic and volume it would take to make it work.

My understanding of the corner market business is that it is very tough. In NYC most of these types of businesses are stacked to the ceiling with foods and other items but the majority of their profit comes from cigs, beer and lottery tickets and those are three things we won't have.

Any idea what kind of margin there is on locavore foods? Is this a crazy idea or an opportunity to push locavore and make at least a little money?

[Bossy Monkey]

1. In any business, you have to be prepared to lose money for the first two years

The question then is, are you?

[KurtNYC]

2. I have started other businesses and

pretty much all of them went into the black with the first customer or two -- Mobile DJ, selling audio gear, and nutritional software. So this is a different type of venture and I agree with you that it would be a mistake to start into this and not have enough money to give it a fair chance to catch on. Trying to figure out how much is enough.

Summer is prime season here for tourists and weekenders so we are looking to hit the ground running. The tough part is winter but the rent is $600/mo so even if close, we haven't gotten hurt too badly.

[TreasonousBastard]

3. $600 a month for a prime location in NYC?

If the Rent Fairy has indeed blessed you with such good fortune, you might want to make a good fiend of one of omnipresent Koreans, or at least closely observe, how they manage their stores and what customers are actually buying. And spoilage. A few trips to Hunt's Point to see about wholesale prices would be in order, too. And some serious thought about just what you can get locally around November and December when demand will be high. Or January till late spring, when the farms are closed but you need product. Local food means seasonal food.

Note that right now veggie prices of all sorts are sky high, with our local restaurants complaining about simple things like lettuce and eggplant running up to 10 times the price a few months ago.

[KurtNYC]

4. I'm up in the Hudson Valley this year

which explains the rent. Lots of farms and a strong CSA movement here. There is a new business here called Local Ocean which farms fish.

Food prices going up but not sure how local farms costs are effected. Could actually create more margin for those who are not subjected to high transportation costs (?) I know the other local high end market makes most of their profit on meat which is frozen and available year round. We are also dabbling with doing gelato with local organic fruit as a profit driver.

[TreasonousBastard]

5. That explains the rent, but why would someone buy from you if...

they can just go to the farm?

Around here the local food co-op bellied up largely because everyone just went to the farms, or to the supermarkets that carried local produce. We're pretty much a summer community, which works well with the growing season, and several organic farms have popped up and seem to be doing well.

Here, the farms are all lined up along the only two roads heading out his way, so nobody can miss them. If they're really spread out up there, there's an incentive for weekend farmer's markets and stores open all week with their stuff. Any cheesemakers up that way?

Apple butter, raspberry jam, bacon, butter, honey...? Pies and muffins? All good local farm-made stuff that doesn't wilt in a day or two and a lot of our farms are doing great with such things. Fresh butter made yesterday with a higher butterfat content beats hell out of anything trucked here from the Midwest. Same with local bacon and other such treats.

(We even have a guy who makes pheasant sausages.)

[riderinthestorm]

6. The liquor license I understand is tough, but why not sell the other two $$ items?

Are you philosophically opposed or are there other licensing issues I'm not aware of? If you are worried about $$ can you sell those items to start and then once you are "over the hump", you can backtrack and wean your business off the bigger $$ makers?

I just spent a weekend in NYC and $600/month for rent anywhere there sounds like a bargain!