Moving Right Along

We have been busy the past few days getting all of our business affairs in order, Kiwi style. They do things a bit differently here, so we have engaged the services of a very fine attorney (recommended by our new Kiwi friend Ken, who was referred by our old Bend friend Hawk), a restaurant consultant who sees our vision and has tons of experience opening new eateries in Auckland, and a rather goofy banker recommended by the NZ restaurant association. He had trouble spelling Oregon and Buell (even when our passports were sitting in front of him), so that is the one relationship we may need to reconsider.

Some advantages to doing business here include the fact that there is NO capital gains tax and our US dollar buys about 1.50 NZ dollars. However, the US$ is on the slide and we are worried that by the time we set up shop we will have even less buying power. Word around here is that the Euro is becoming the safe haven of choice. Savvy financial managers have always looked to the US$ as a solid place to weather a global downturn. With our mounting deficits and lackluster economy, they are beginning to buy Euros. That could weaken the dollar even more over the next year or so. (Notice that I am not pointing fingers or making any political statements here.)

We have made our offer for the waterfront cafe space. It's a backup, and the vendor (that's what they call the seller here) is interested in talking to us because we have no contingency on financing. We will be meeting with the landlord on Monday, he has the final say in who will be able to take the space. Luckily, our Bend friends Phil & Carole Frazier have introduced us to the US Ambassador to New Zealand and he has offered to smooth any wrinkles we may find along the way. John is pacing like a caged animal, he can't stand the suspense. We are convinced this is the perfect space for Mexicali Fresh.

We will post the results of our meeting on Monday - stay tuned!