Benny Miller, owner of Benny’s Hotdogs, prepares a customer’s lunch at his portable hot dog vending cart called The Hummer on May 1. Miller was selling hot dogs, Polish sausage and nachos from his cart at the Tuscaloosa Auto Auctions on Skyland Boulevard in Cottondale. He plans to start selling food from his cart in the downtown Tuscaloosa area this summer.

Many people dream of having their own business. Ben Miller of Northport took it a step further. His idea for a business came to him in a dream.

In his dream, Miller said he saw himself with a hot dog cart — the kind street vendors operate in New York City, Chicago, New Orleans and other big cities.

And when he woke, he asked himself — why not get a hot dog cart and set up shop on a street in downtown Tuscaloosa?

It might not be lower Manhattan, but there should be enough hungry people in downtown Tuscaloosa looking for a quick noontime lunch, he said.

“I have never been in business before,” Miller said.

But he went online and found companies that sell hot dog carts and bought one.

“It’s the kind of cart that is pulled on a trailer. It is totally new to Tuscaloosa,” he said.

It is so new, if fact, that when Miller went to City Hall to see about setting up his street vending business, city officials weren’t sure what to do when it came to letting him set up on a public location, he said.

“I am kind of the pioneer in this in the city of Tuscaloosa.”

Miller’s cart has passed a state health department inspection. He also has business licenses from the state and Tuscaloosa for his venture, Benny’s Hotdogs.

And he has set up at some special events on private property. Last weekend, he sold hot dogs and Polish sausages and all their trimmings at an auto auction in Cottondale.

He plans to operate his cart at lunchtime downtown by June and hopes to have a second cart in operation by year’s end.

The Tuscaloosa City Council granted Miller a franchise to operate the hot dog cart on April 13.

“We will be recommending regulations be adopted for this kind of business, but he can begin operations any time after May 19, assuming he has all needed state, health department, etc. approvals,” said Mayor Walt Maddox in an e-mail.

“He has everything he needs from the city, and based on his statements as to his business plan, the regulations we adopt will be consistent with his plans.”

The mayor said he is excited to see Miller’s interest in being part of the downtown scene.

Miller said the redevelopment occurring downtown is bringing new vibrancy to the area.

“It is really exciting what is happening downtown, and I would like to do something to be a part of it,” he said.

Initially, Miller hopes to set up his cart on 22nd Avenue, near the plaza area next to City Hall.

But he said that eventually he would like to add more hot dog carts at more locations.

“I definitely would like to put at least three carts in Tuscaloosa. My wife would take one, I would take one, and I would probably hire someone to run one,” he said.

Miller was born and raised in Tuscaloosa. He and his wife, Susan, drive school buses for a living. That gives them free time during the middle of the school day, which is ideal for running a lunchtime hot dog cart, he said.

This summer should be a good time to get the business started and fine-tune the hours of operation, because once school resumes, he said, he could be on a tight schedule with his two jobs.

“We will have to see how well it goes and take it from there,” Miller said.

The summertime also is prime season for eating hot dogs. Between Memorial Day and Labor Day, Americans will consume about 7 billion hot dogs, or about 22 hot dogs per person, according to the American Meat Institute’s National Hot Dog & Sausage Council.

While the hot dog cart might be new, Miller has some experience with preparing hot dogs. When his oldest son attended Holt High School, Miller was president of the band boosters.

“We worked the concessions (preparing and selling hot dogs) for University of Alabama (football) games for the band boosters,” he said.

And before he could get his state health department license for a food service business, he had to take a food service safety course at Shelton State Community College.

As for his menu, Miller said he is testing different hot dogs now to find the best all-beef dog.

“What I want to do with my hot dogs is let you have whatever you want on them,” he said.

Miller’s push to bring a hot dog cart business to Tuscaloosa is part of growing national trend.

The Wall Street Journal reported last year that hot dog cart manufacturers saw their sales grow as the economy sunk into the worst recession in decades.

The Journal said pay cuts and weakened job security attracted more people to the hot dog cart industry, an entreprenuerial venture whose biggest investment is the several thousand dollars spent for a cart. But it noted success in the business is not guaranteed and much depends on a good location and limited competition.

Some cities regulate where hot dog street vendors can set up, limiting the number in a given area. Big cities like New York, where hot dog carts are part of the street scene, actually rent spots.

The National Hot Dog & Sausage Council reports that the most exclusive place in America to sell hot dogs is at a hot dog cart outside New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art. The cart’s owner, Thomas Makkos, pays the city $415,670 per year to rent the spot, it said.

An average cart measures 9 feet by 5 feet, making it 45 square feet, according to the council. That means Makkos pays an annual rent of $9,237.11 per square foot.

“That might well be the most expensive piece of real estate in the entire country,” the council said. “To put that into perspective, in Manhattan, one of the country’s most expensive rental markets, the average apartment rent is $48.33 per square foot.”

original article at Tuscaloosa News

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