Italian Restaurant Business Plan - Market and Industry Analysis Page 2

4.3 Target Market: Business Statistics Summary

Minority owned businesses are well represented in Westchester County with Black and Hispanic owned firms running better than the national averages. Black owned firms account for 6.6% of all firms and Hispanic owned firms come in at 7.9%. This compares with a national average of 5.2% for Black owned businesses and 6.8% for Hispanic owned businesses nationwide.

Retail sales per capita – another measure of the spending power of local Westchester residents is $12,589 a good 18.60% above the national average retail sales per capita of $10,615. This is of course a very significant number for us in the restaurant business since we depend on the disposable income of the local residents to be able to grown and sustain our business as well. Westchester County also boasts an unemployment rate of 4.40% which is below the national average of 5.50%. This we believe has a lot to do with the close proximity to New York City and the fact that Westchester County has a well diversified economic base which is able to help the county handle tougher economic times better than others areas of the country.

Business statistics summary for Westchester County, NY

Item	Westchester New York	United States

Black-owned firms, percent	6.6%	5.2%
Asian-owned firms, percent	4.7%	4.8%
Hispanic-owned firms	7.9%	6.8%
Women-owned firms	29.2%	28.2%

Manufacturers shipments ($1000)	$4,180,869	$3,916,136,712
Wholesale trade sales ($1000)	$37,819,511	$4,634,755,112
Retail sales ($1000)	$11,807,085	$3,056,421,997
Retail sales per capita	$12,589	$10,615
Accommodation and foodservices sales ($1000)	$1,322,936	$449,498,718
Building permits	837	1,838,903
Federal spending ($1000)	$5,331,397	$2,143,781,727

Current Unemployment Rate	4.40%	5.50%
Sales Taxes	7.50%	6.00%

4.4 Target Market: Age Demographics

The breakdown of the resident population of Westchester County, NY is in line with the national average with 25% of the population under the age of 18; another 12% of the population over the age of 65 compared to 14% for the national average; and 63% of the total population between the ages of 18 and 65 compared to the national average of 61%.

We believe that the population in the age bracket of between 18 and 65 is where most of our customers come from and it is therefore heartening to see that approximately $600k of resident population of Westchester County form our main target market.

As noted earlier, the age group of between 18 and 65 comprises of working people and given that the City of White Plains has a very large day commuting population of another $200k people besides is permanent residents, it bodes very well for an eating establishment like ours. The key we believe is to a successful lunch repertoire to complement our regular evening and weekend business.

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Italian Restaurant Business Plan - Market and Industry Analysis Page 2

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