Saturday, March 10, 2007
The Long Awaited "Update!"
Hi there!
Well, It has been quite a while and and the water under the bridge would fill maybe a smaller version of what's behind The Hoover Dam!
First of all, the location of our restaurant/bar has changed! No big surprise...this is now the third location for our business. The good thing is that it's been in place now for several months, and it actually makes money now instead of losing it.
You're probably wondering...why the move? Well, in the location on the only route (at the moment) to Beach Park, was designed to attract the passing tourists. It didn't happen! The passing tourists kept on passing. We just didn't have a powerful enough reason for them to stop.
And you're saying, why not?
The answer is that if we concentrated solely on the tourist traffic, we would have left the locals behind, and then , in the off-season, when there are far fewer tourists on the way to Beach Park, we lose because the place is just too expensive for them and we are not providing THEIR products, which differ from those we sell to the passing tourists.
That's part of the answer. There were other factors involved, such as the distance from our home and the amount I was spending on gas, which is not exactly inexpensive in Fortaleza.
Anyway, without dwelling on it too much, we moved the restaurant/bar to an area where Thieny grew up, knows the people and what they want, and where there is NO tourist traffic...but a regular, everyday parade of locals through the business.
Granted, we have our ups and downs there as well...such as during Carnaval, when many of the locals travel to other cities to celebrate, and they save up their money in the weeks beforehand, and during the actual holiday, go to the beach!
But by and large, this location works!
It now has a large regular clientele, plus a great weekend traffic flow. As is normal for restaurants in Fortaleza, we are closed Mondays. As well, Tursdays and Wednesdays are slower as we creep towards the weekend...Fortaleza is, in many ways, just a weekend city, as is the case with many tourist-centered economies.
I do not have any photos to share with you of "Bar da Boa", which is the name Thieny chose for it, but I will try and get some on here in the future.
On to other things.
For the better part of last year, my service...Fortaleza Adventure...had clients trickling in from various places in North America and Europe.
Lately, the pace has picked up and since the end of January, quite a number have come to visit our city.
Just yesterday, I was at Pinto Martins International Airport three times to either drop off or pick up clients.
These particular people were from the United States and Spain. The couple who were here for a month from Washington State were fixing up a condo apartment they had bought in Icaria. Stewart from Spain was just here de-pressurizing and also looking at potential property to buy.
The building of new condo towers seems to have slowed, but there are still many people contacting me who are very interested in investigating the rental income market here.
The chap who came in at 5am this morning has that in mind, as well as just resting up.
Rafik, A very ambitious young man who was here for a month, and left at the first of last week, was looking at several different kinds of import/export opportunities. We'll have to wait and see what may or may not develop from his gathering of ideas, but I've learned to never second guess my clients. They surprise me frequently.
As for my beautiful wife, Thieny, there is a good chance she will be dancing professionally in the near future with another musical group from Fortaleza. One of the singers for the group is ill so things are on hold at the moment but may start rolling this coming week.
Israel is in private school and doing quite well although we will probably have him move to a larger one when there is room. The bigger school is very popular.
On the downside, my bank debit card was cloned and my account was relieved of the balance in the first few days of this month. It's a hassle and the money is being replaced in my account by my bank, but it is a not too subtle warning to be very careful using your bank cards!
I'll really work at posting here more frequently. In fact, my goal is to update almost every day! We'll see how it goes.
Take care!
Well, It has been quite a while and and the water under the bridge would fill maybe a smaller version of what's behind The Hoover Dam!
First of all, the location of our restaurant/bar has changed! No big surprise...this is now the third location for our business. The good thing is that it's been in place now for several months, and it actually makes money now instead of losing it.
You're probably wondering...why the move? Well, in the location on the only route (at the moment) to Beach Park, was designed to attract the passing tourists. It didn't happen! The passing tourists kept on passing. We just didn't have a powerful enough reason for them to stop.
And you're saying, why not?
The answer is that if we concentrated solely on the tourist traffic, we would have left the locals behind, and then , in the off-season, when there are far fewer tourists on the way to Beach Park, we lose because the place is just too expensive for them and we are not providing THEIR products, which differ from those we sell to the passing tourists.
That's part of the answer. There were other factors involved, such as the distance from our home and the amount I was spending on gas, which is not exactly inexpensive in Fortaleza.
Anyway, without dwelling on it too much, we moved the restaurant/bar to an area where Thieny grew up, knows the people and what they want, and where there is NO tourist traffic...but a regular, everyday parade of locals through the business.
Granted, we have our ups and downs there as well...such as during Carnaval, when many of the locals travel to other cities to celebrate, and they save up their money in the weeks beforehand, and during the actual holiday, go to the beach!
But by and large, this location works!
It now has a large regular clientele, plus a great weekend traffic flow. As is normal for restaurants in Fortaleza, we are closed Mondays. As well, Tursdays and Wednesdays are slower as we creep towards the weekend...Fortaleza is, in many ways, just a weekend city, as is the case with many tourist-centered economies.
I do not have any photos to share with you of "Bar da Boa", which is the name Thieny chose for it, but I will try and get some on here in the future.
On to other things.
For the better part of last year, my service...Fortaleza Adventure...had clients trickling in from various places in North America and Europe.
Lately, the pace has picked up and since the end of January, quite a number have come to visit our city.
Just yesterday, I was at Pinto Martins International Airport three times to either drop off or pick up clients.
These particular people were from the United States and Spain. The couple who were here for a month from Washington State were fixing up a condo apartment they had bought in Icaria. Stewart from Spain was just here de-pressurizing and also looking at potential property to buy.
The building of new condo towers seems to have slowed, but there are still many people contacting me who are very interested in investigating the rental income market here.
The chap who came in at 5am this morning has that in mind, as well as just resting up.
Rafik, A very ambitious young man who was here for a month, and left at the first of last week, was looking at several different kinds of import/export opportunities. We'll have to wait and see what may or may not develop from his gathering of ideas, but I've learned to never second guess my clients. They surprise me frequently.
As for my beautiful wife, Thieny, there is a good chance she will be dancing professionally in the near future with another musical group from Fortaleza. One of the singers for the group is ill so things are on hold at the moment but may start rolling this coming week.
Israel is in private school and doing quite well although we will probably have him move to a larger one when there is room. The bigger school is very popular.
On the downside, my bank debit card was cloned and my account was relieved of the balance in the first few days of this month. It's a hassle and the money is being replaced in my account by my bank, but it is a not too subtle warning to be very careful using your bank cards!
I'll really work at posting here more frequently. In fact, my goal is to update almost every day! We'll see how it goes.
Take care!
