[bwahrend]

A Planet Fitness would do well anywhere near The Villages

[tomwed]

A self-service car washes in multiple bay configurations where the customer washes their vehicle using wand technology.
This is a vacation resort. People are always drivng into town and everything is clean and rosey. Why not your car?
It's a warm climate. And best of all you can be open 24/7 without any employee. You could have cameras all over so if there is any problems you would know about it.
The location is important.
The advertising is important.
Maybe you could even set up the automated system so that off hours are less expensive that popular hours.
Maybe you could set up a golf cart bay. I'm not sure yet what would be different.
I wonder if you could recycle the water? Most of it goes down the drain. Could it be filtered? Does that mean it's a green business? You might be able to get some kind of assistance. This is just brainstorming, nothing more.

[graciegirl]

A Donato's Franchise, Please.


A year ago I would have said Chipotle's....but not now.

[tomwed]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

A Donato's Franchise, Please.


A year ago I would have said Chipotle's....but not now.

Isn't that interesting? The franchise best known for local ingredients, freshness, preparation in front of you and now it's crashing and burning.

Why not make a Chipoltes knock-off and side-step the franchise fees now that the name is tainted. After all it was what they served that was appealing. I don't think they had any secret sauce that could not be replicated.

And I think our restaurant club said Tomatoes had the highest rating. How about a Tomatoes down the other end of town? I don't know how close to the turnpike you could be but when we are traveling we would go out of our way for a fresh buffet.

[GreggB]

Car wash/quick oil change combo place, I agree we need good pizza, a good convenience store open past 9pm, could tie in with the coffee/donut/bagel place. I contacted WAWA a while ago and suggested several location just across the roadways from Village property (on Village property would be great but not sure they would go for that, but locations like Powell & 466A, across Powell in Brownwood, on 466A by Colony... A place like Jersey Mikes further south than current location (I'm not a Subway fan), a Boston Market, Home meal delivery service(but would be better if tied in with some place like Darrel's Diner).

[Happinow]

A real ice cream store would be welcomed. We have the frozen yogurt places here but no real, rich ice cream. Oddly enough, in my home town,,which had a population of about 45,000, within about 5-7 mile there were 5 real good soft ice cream shops. All thrived in the short warm months for getting ice cream. It was seasonal up there. Here in Florida, where on most any given day, the weather is hot and a nice, cold, creamy ice cream would be great! Ice cream sundaes, shakes, cones, banana splits....etc. It could be a booming business provided the location was good. When I go to Hobby Lobby either in Ocala or Eustis, they have an old ice cream shop really close By. The shop is a free standing building that is in the shape of an ice cream cone. We always stop there as part of our trip. It would be a great business to get into in Florida!

[looneycat]

a brazilian bbq would do well here the closest is ipanema in ocala.

[champion6]

Dairy Queen is nationally recognized, but missing from TV. My understanding is that there was one on 466, but it was poorly managed and failed.

[Bonny]

Originally Posted by champion6

Dairy Queen is nationally recognized, but missing from TV. My understanding is that there was one on 466, but it was poorly managed and failed.

We had 2 of them. One on 441 & one on 466. I really miss DQ. We liked their burgers & I loved a banana split once in awhile.

[kstew43]

Car washes use water and water is very expensive in the Villages...just saying..

How about another Chick-fil-la on the south side. there is one on 27 but thats the only one......they do a great business....and they close on sunday.....

[shumbapie]

Originally Posted by DangeloInspections

A refreshing and interesting topic. I agree it is difficult to find a good pizza here....although a "good pizza" is different for folks, contingent on where you are from. N.Y.C. folks want the thin style, while folks from Chicago want a deep dish.

There are not a lot of ice cream places around. Also, not a lot of coffee/donut places around. Both would be wonderful.

I like the driving school idea....you can focus on "how to drive in roundabouts" and "how slow vehicles should stay in the RIGHT lane", etc, etc.

Perhaps a "Camp Bow-Wow"...a fancier place for folks to keep pets when they travel. The ones up north are very successful...

Perhaps a mobile car/golf cart detailing service where one comes to the home to detail a car so the homeowner does not need to drive it anywhere.

Anyway, just a few ideas....perhaps more will come after I had some coffee. I have found that if one is honest, provides a good service and does what they say and say what they do, returns calls and actually shows up when promised you can do well. Good luck! Frank

I'm, from the Chicago area and I much prefer thin crust pizza. Aurelio's pizza is known for their thin crust. Someone else on this thread asked about Uno's Pizza from Chicago. They have a very good deep dish pizza. I understand that pizza taste is regional but I'll put Aurelio's up against any other pizza.

[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by shumbapie

I'm, from the Chicago area and I much prefer thin crust pizza. Aurelio's pizza is known for their thin crust. Someone else on this thread asked about Uno's Pizza from Chicago. They have a very good deep dish pizza. I understand that pizza taste is regional but I'll put Aurelio's up against any other pizza.

I haven't had Aurelio's in 35 years. I would be there on opening day.

[queasy27]

If you prefer to work on a smaller scale and control all aspects of your company, the Villages has an unending appetite for service businesses: home watch, house cleaning, power washing, lawn maintenance, handyman, car detailing, personal driving, running errands, etc. You wouldn't exactly be raking in the money, though.

[Retiring]

As someone that grew up in Queens and as an Italian citizen that has spent a good piece of my life in Italy, I would classify myself as a pizza snob. NYC pizza is the best, and yes even better than Italy, in my opinion. In my travels I occasionally run into a pizza place that comes close to what you find in NY. In AZ you have NYPD in Scottsdale, in Las Vegas you have the pizza place on the first floor of the Venetian, and in TV you have Bravo’s in LSL which is ok, no not great but for this pizza snob to say their pizza is ok, that’s a major endorsement.

What I did not find in TV was a good bagel shop, or a “real” deli. Also, when I was there I did not see a car wash/detail shop, is there one in TV? Personally, I like having my vehicles hand washed and couple times a year detailed but don’t know how well that would sell in a community with a great number on a fixed income. If there isn’t a detail shop in TV, my vote (and it’s worth what you paid for it) is auto detail, bagels, or a deli in that order.

A good product or service, at a reasonable price with good customer service, will do well.

[tomwed]

Originally Posted by kstew43

Car washes use water and water is very expensive in the Villages...just saying..

Because water is expensive that may be another reason villagers would go to a car wash.
I'm guessing an efficient wand that is monitored, and turns off after so many gallons would be more efficient then what the homeowner has even if recycling is not feasible.


I had a great idea for a business years ago. Long before anyone else I thought I could rent audio books to drivers going up and down 95. The idea was you pick it up at one rest stop and drop it off at another.
It didn't go anywhere but I did end up at the Rutgers University Business department in Camden. There were experts there that helped me put together a business plan and do research, all for free.