It's a good thing then that's not what I have in mind

I don't want to give the exact idea away, call me daft but I'd hate for anyone that happened across this thread to knick it and yes, I do realise that makes me sound a member of the tin hat brigade!

I guess a similar sort of concept would be this place http://lochcarron.com/retail.html

Whilst the idea of a coffee shop in a tartan mill is far from unusual the execution of this particular centre is superb, none of your usual twee 'biscuit tin tartan' but a highly contemporary display of tartans and how they can be worn etc, combine this with a modern coffee shop, in this case a Starbucks franchise and you have two successful models running side by side with a crossover of customers who came for a coffee and bought some tartan and vice versa.

I used to live in Calgary, Canada and there is a business called Mercato (http://www.mercatogourmet.com/main.html) which is Gourmet shop with restaurant and deli. From my experience the business is great because they managed to open a second location and every time I wanted to go there fore dinner I had to book well in advance.

I hope this give you an idea about the business you want. I loved Mercato and every time I manage to go to Calgary I stop there for eating and buying some goodies.

I can understand why you're not keen to tell everyone. A guy i know spent a year in Thailand on the island of Phi Phi and made some really good friends there. He decided he wanted to move out there permanently and had a briliant business idea etc (this was about 5 years ago now).

His idea was one of those places where you go in and put your feet in a tank, and the fish eat all the dead skin off of your feet. A unique idea and in my 3 visits to Thailand, i'd certainly never seen one! And Phi Phi seemed like the perfect place for one, being full of divers and other marine related ventures etc.

So he tells a couple of his good Thai friends that he was living with on the island, and goes off back to the UK for a month to get all the money together and plan everything. He comes back to Phi Phi to set up, gets off the boat and what does he see in front of him? A brand new fish foot spa packed with people doing really well... set up by his "friend" as he had realised what a good idea it was when they guiy told him!

The worst thign is, is that he went ahead and opened his anyway, and his location is nowhere near as good, so this other guy gets 95% of the business! A harsh lesson!

However good the concept is in terms of cross selling/attracting customers it will live and die by the product you're offering like any restaurant or shop.

I've been thinking about this since it first came up, and the conclusion I have come to is that it will either work or it won't, and the problem is that there is no way of telling for sure without trying it. I know a business of this general type closed in Buckingham a little while ago (Buckingham is a market town in North Bucks of the moderately prosperous variety, it supports a medium size Waitrose).

A huge amount depends on location, but, of course, the better locations tend to cost more so more footfall/higher prices will be needed. One thing seems reasonably certain, even if it does ok it's never going to make a lot of money, but might be enough for someone who fancies the lifestyle and isn't greedy.