I need your advice

[hassan]

hello  everybody i was hoping i could get your opinion on this.
i am planing on opening a hookah lounge and was wondering what brand of
maasel would you like to have at a lounge personally i would go for
alfakher specially becouse they have those big buckets. the thing is
that so far i only tried 2 kinds apple and strawbery. do you think i
should stick to one brand or should i get the best of each brand. i am
thinking that the first choise would be better becouse it would be
cheaper.
also i was wondering if you guys think a hookah lounge would be a good
idea or do they loose money how is there business i have never been in
one in the states and we dont have any in my city.

[cypress]

I would say stick with one brand and get at least 3-5 solid
flavors.  If your market is a more traditional smoker then Apple,
2 Apple, Strawberry, Grape and Cappuccino.  Some of the other
flavors I would get 250's upon suggestion.  You are just going to
have to get a feel on how much you are selling and how much you are
ordering.  Good luck. 

[NERV]

depends where you live, since its big with college kids now, if you're opening in a college town business shud be great, oh and if the giant af tub are a better value than buying 250 boxes of lesser brands then by all means use af

[hassan]

i think my statement was a little unclear i actually ment that buying
the same brand would be cheaper than buying several brands since i
would be dealing with more companys. but  AF would not be cheaper
than the others even if i bought a large amount, but i actually think
its a good trade of becouse i beleive its so much better.

im actually going to be located in front of a community college and
very close to a university and another community college. in spokane,WA.

[cypress]

One brand would be the most cost effective. I personally like Fakher. I
believe college people are going to enjoy more of the fruity flavors.
What you might have to do is order a little of everything and get a
feel on what is the most popular.  I wouldnt order the buckets
right off as you might get stuck with alot of ma'assel that dont get
used. The 250's you can at least sell to that one person who like a
particular one that everyone else does not like.  To open up a
business like that though, you have to have enough cash to hopefylly
break even the first year. Good Luck. 

[Mathazar]

Get Romman:

Double Apple

Peach

Lemon

Orange

and  Strawberry

It's expensive,  but if you buy in bulk then perhaps they'll give you a decent discount.

It's great ma'assel and the flavors I mentioned I think are better than Al-Fakher's version.

[mushrat]

I'd say go with 2 levels of quality. I'd get Nakhla for your standard set up. The price for a head at the little caffe on the next block from me is $6 for Nakhla and he has 3-5 flavours depending on the day.
This would be for your average students who wouldn't know ma'asell from wassail. (its a medieval spiced wine drink ) And are mostly in it to sit around with their friends and be cool.
I'd then have a "premium" menu for the more discriminating smokers. This would be something like AF (I'd stay with AF just because they seem to have the most consistant quality both between flavours and from batch to batch). The "premium" lable would also act as a marketing device, with people who want to impress someone or just appear more experienced/knowing by trying it. People like a choice and many people like to think what they are getting is BETTER than something else.
Then there would be folks who *KNOW* the good stuff and will order that to start.
$.02

[joemartin]

I like MYA brand hookahs, other than that i have no strong opinion, good luck in your buisiness venture