Is Great Falls a good place to open a restaurant?

You may not be interested in running a restaurant, but found yourself saying "I wish we had a (fill in the blank) restaurant". Both individually owned local restaurants and chain restaurants have to feel confident about profitability within a local market. In 2012 Great Falls ranked #246 nationally, 12.44 points above average.

Source: http://www.monkeydish.com/towns-with-potential/home; captured 1/25/2013

In other words, if you wondered why national chain X isn't here yet, they have 245 other cities to go first. Amongst them are Missoula, Bozeman, Billings (which just saw a series of restaurants open), and Kalispell. Of course those chains have additional criteria such as special markets, available sites, traffic counts, and available liquor licenses.

The good news for local restaurants is that we still have 12.44 points of "untapped" potential. If our economy grows, we will see our ranking improve. If more restaurants come onto the market, it may drop, unless we start tapping into the Glacier-Yellowstone tourist flow, and increase local demand dramatically.

How do they come up with those ratings? The Journal "Restaurant Business" explains it in their April 2012 edition. In a few words, our local average income, existing number of restaurants, and population are compared to US averages. One-hundred is average, and the higher above 100 the more promising the market is to new restaurants.

Curious about the best towns to open up shop? Corbin, KY (the origin of KFC), and Key West, FL are top contenders! Go to http://www.monkeydish.com/ for more information.

"Restaurant Business" Journal, April 2012, p.22

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