I was reading through DavisWiki today – reading the “Davis Wish List”. There are awfully a lot of dumb people with dumb ideas on there, like.. open a “Trader Joe’s”. These people like the “small town” Davis feel, and they ask for a Trader Joe, idiots…
Anyways, one idea that caught my attention is “24 hr coffee”. I have always wanted to open a 24/hr coffee / desert shop in Davis. I would add a twist to it and couple with computer repair, peripheral sales. And I will also incorporate my friend Phil’s idea in here too, but I can’t tell you what his idea is because its his secret idea.
Anyways, its funny how many businesses die in Davis. I blame it on bad planning. Like opening a restaurant in the butt crack of nowhere and opening a boutique clothing store with ass high prices. I think to succeed in Davis you have to 1) be dirt cheap, so don’t even think about going high end on anything 2) be properly situated for your business type. In other places, you can get away with both of these things because there is a huge huge huge number of people everywhere. In Davis, people congregate in familiar spots, like downtown davis or the marketplace. Students want cheap shit, that’s why the line at Fujis is always so long.
Honestly, the easiest idea to succeed in Davis is open a Chinese buffet. Chinese food is dirt cheap so you can make it by the truck full and still charge little for it. Also, if you put the word “buffet” on it, everyone and their grandma will be there…