Wow, what a decision!! I can see how conflicted you are.

I guess having a finance background, I always go there first and see what complications there might be - being such a rural area, and a business, you'll most likely need quite a large deposit. Rural properties are generally lent 70%, but if you need a business loan you can probably borrow more at a higher rate.

What was the reasoning behind the place closing? And why does the local lady reckon it'll work if it's re-opened? Do they really get that many people through there (driving etc) or would it just be locals? I do wonder how many customers you'd have.

My in-laws used to run a general store in a tiny country town - same kind of set up, store/cafe attached to their house. It was next to the school, and in all honesty their biggest income was selling newspapers & milk to the farmers, and doing school lunches. FIL did a lot of mechanic/building maintenance work to supplement their income. This town though, was only 20 minutes from another larger town, and so anyone driving through didn't bother to stop. That's the main thing I'd be worried about - are any tourists coming through just on their way somewhere else, would they actually stop?

So yeah, just from what I saw with the in-laws store, I'd be a bit sceptical about how profitable it would be, but yours may be a very different situation to that!

Good luck with your decision making