Latin American Lifestyle and Art (LALA): Choosing the LALA Location

Location Location Location

Latin American Lifestyle and Art (LALA) needs a location and as they say in the real estate world - location is everything!

Finding the perfect location for a new business could (and maybe should) be a lengthy process starting with the careful definition of requirements and then viewing property after property exhaustively until (with a sigh of relief) finally finding that perfect space in the perfect neighborhood or (with a sigh of resignation) settling for satisfaction of just your high value needs. I am happy to report LALA has a home already however the search process was absolutely nothing like that. The location feels very right and came to me so easily for the first time in my life I’m going to put it down to serendipity and just go with it (intuition don’t fail me now).

The LALA location will be (drum roll please):

“Mission Gate”, West Bay, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras.

A small but beautiful space in the lobby of a luxury condo development, LALA will be full of light and is in an awesome location. Garry, my good mate and Roatan restaurateur, is opening a new restaurant in the same complex and he suggested I take a look at it. So I looked and I thought it perfect. I met with the owner who agreed to my proposal. I signed the lease just days ago and as of March 1^st, it’s all mine. Too easy! I went yesterday to check out the new space with Orville Miller (friend and builder-extrodinaire) to start planning for the interior build. I am very excited and more than a little bit nervous. It makes it all seem very real.

That’s the short story. If you are wondering why I would open a business in Honduras in the first place, then please read on. If you want to see some pictures of the new location just scroll to the bottom of the page. Cheers!

Why Roatan?

I’ve lived on Roatan for two and a half years (on and off) so the idea of setting up a business here is not as arbitrary as it may seem. I know the island pretty well by now: the ebbs and flows of the tourist season, the full-on tourist tsunami of cruise-ship days, the mysterious workings of the Municipal administration. I have friends here, several of whom are seasoned business owners and are unfailing in their support and willingness to help. And in terms of geography it makes a lot of sense. LALA has always been about art from the region of Latin America and proximity to the artists and product sources should allow me to be involved in both the buying and selling side of the business.

Why West Bay?

There is, I believe (hope!) a great opportunity for the LALA concept in West Bay. West Bay beach is arguably the most beautiful on the island (picture a postcard-perfect sweep of white sand fringed by coconut palms which curve gracefully toward the brilliant aquamarine water) and contains the highest density of luxury resorts on the island. In addition to the resort guests there are plenty of day-visitors (from the cruise ships and other villages) and a very nice community of permanent residents. The West Bay guest is well-serviced and has little need to leave the village. Resort hotels and private condos claim every inch of beach frontage, most with their own restaurants, bars and dive shops. Vendors walk the beach hawking every vacation activity and trinket imaginable including glass-bottom boat tours, parasailing, banana-boat rides, jet skiing, paddle boarding, snorkeling, SNUBA, massage, hair braiding, zip-lining, coconuts, jewelry, ice-cream, jade carvings, conch shells and other local crafts. A small mall about 5 minutes’ walk from the beach offers a coffee shop/wine bar, gift shops, DVD rental, and deli. It’s really got everything a vacationer could want. Except….. an art gallery. LALA will bring to West Bay a high-end selection of Central American art and artesian products with the intent also of providing information on Central American culture. I hope it will be the thing they've all been missing ;-)