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SHELLY

SoWal Insider
Jun 13, 2005
5,763
803
Even if bought at $575,000, I wonder how many Thai dinners one would have to sell every day to keep the doors open.

...all you need to do is sell two $287,500 plates of Pad Thai and you're golden.

SJ, you're suggesting that folks crunch the numbers to determine if a place can cashflow?? --you're a wild and crazy guy!!
 

Chip and Dale

Beach Lover
Jun 7, 2006
52
7
WaterColor
It looks to be a short sale for $575,000 ish.....

So, how is the US Small Business Administration involved exactly? Are the US taxpayers on the hook for this mess?
 
Last edited:

Matt J

SWGB
May 9, 2007
24,862
9,670
My understanding is that a small business loan must be backed by assets equaling the value of the loan and those assets are forfeited if the loan goes bad. I would really hope that the government isn't getting in the business of short sales (read writing off bad debt at tax payers expense).
 

Smiling JOe

SoWal Expert
Nov 18, 2004
31,644
1,773
and at the time the loan was given, the assets, the business condo, likely did equal the value of the loan. Now, it doesn't, so it will likely be the taxpayers eating that lunch.
 

30abob

Beach Lover
Aug 8, 2007
239
47
Blue Mountain Beach
I owned a coffee shop from 2004 - 2007. The guy I sold it to just relocated it across town due to a near complete collapse of the "revitalized" downtown effort back home. I had a fairly "busy" location, sandwiched between the City/County/State/Federal courthouses. Within a block and half were 4500 - 5000 government employees, I was the daily coffee break. I still struggled some months.

The specialty coffee business is a head count game. If you can't turn 300 people a day in a location don't bother looking any further. I can tell you from experience that there is absolutely NO WAY to cash flow a coffee shop in the Redfish location at that price right now and probably not ever. Based on the upfront costs for this location you'd need to turn around 750 people a day to make it work. On the busiest summer day there's no way to get close at Redfish unless every unit was full and all of the nearby development provided additional support.
 

SneakyPete

Beach Lover
May 8, 2009
107
66
If I were going to develop the property, I'd look around to surrounding areas and see which businesses are thriving and pick a type of business that Sowal lacks. Actually a Thai restaurant might be quite good. FWB has a LOT of Thai restaurants due to the large Thai population there. (We like Daddy's in ME, Thai House off Racetrack, Mahkong Thai downtown...but there's also Thai Hut, Ractrack Cafe Thai, Orchid House, Thai Kitchen, Thai Saree, Bankok House, and many others that I've seen but cannot name.) There are also a few thriving Thai markets. I think those markets are missing an opportunity of their own, so here's an idea...

Combo Thai restaurant, and Thai market that offers cooking classes and demonstrations on how to use the Thai ingredients. If you've been into any of the markets, it's very intimidating. Through trial and error (and one very kind woman who doesn't mind helping me when she's there ), I've been able to scratch the surface of Thai cooking and ingredients, but I'd buy a lot more ingredients if I knew what to do with them.

We've seen an influx of Mexican markets in Sowal, and Vietnamese markets in Pensacola. What about an International market bringing all of them (and others) together?
 

Jdarg

SoWal Expert
Feb 15, 2005
18,039
1,984
If I were going to develop the property, I'd look around to surrounding areas and see which businesses are thriving and pick a type of business that Sowal lacks. Actually a Thai restaurant might be quite good. FWB has a LOT of Thai restaurants due to the large Thai population there. (We like Daddy's in ME, Thai House off Racetrack, Mahkong Thai downtown...but there's also Thai Hut, Ractrack Cafe Thai, Orchid House, Thai Kitchen, Thai Saree, Bankok House, and many others that I've seen but cannot name.) There are also a few thriving Thai markets. I think those markets are missing an opportunity of their own, so here's an idea...

Combo Thai restaurant, and Thai market that offers cooking classes and demonstrations on how to use the Thai ingredients. If you've been into any of the markets, it's very intimidating. Through trial and error (and one very kind woman who doesn't mind helping me when she's there ), I've been able to scratch the surface of Thai cooking and ingredients, but I'd buy a lot more ingredients if I knew what to do with them.

We've seen an influx of Mexican markets in Sowal, and Vietnamese markets in Pensacola. What about an International market bringing all of them (and others) together?

What a cool idea!
 
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