I spent a week in San Diego about 10 years ago and fell in love with southern California. Unfortunately, my wife is a confirmed mid westerner and I resigned myself long ago to the fact that I’ll never live out my California dream. So imagine how I felt when this came across my desktop today… […]
Ever heard of “peacocking”? That’s a term borrowed from the dating advice world which refers to the practice of wearing something outrageous to attract attention – and it works in business as well. The first step to making a sale is getting the customer to notice you. How could you miss this guy? My wife used to wear the full hot dog suit and stand by the roadside waving at cars. And guess what? It worked. The only problem is […]
There was a man who lived by the side of the road and sold hot dogs. He sold very good hot dogs. He put up signs along the highway and advertised in the newspaper telling how good they were. He stood on the side of the road and cried: “Buy a hot dog, mister?” And people bought. He increased his meat and bun orders. He bought a bigger stove to take care of his trade. He finally got his son home from college to help him out. But then something happened. […]
Guelph, Ontario, Canada Lorne Warmington has operated a hot dog cart in the city of Guelph for 18 years with no competition - until now. This city requires that hot dog cart operators bid for the right to sell hot dogs in the city park, and for 18 years Mr. Warmington had no challengers, so [...]
Cory Bakker is a former concrete worker who has been running his own hot dog cart, "The Hot Dog Hut", for two years in Bellingham, Washington. He got the idea after watching a morning talk show story about the hot dog cart business. What appealed to him was the social aspect, sort of like being [...]
Ted's Charbroiled Hots began as a sandwich shop in an old tool shed, selling food to local constuction workers. In 1927 the building was sold to a young immigrant who operated a horse drawn hot dog cart in a nearby park. (Note: Thankfully, the health regulations are much better nowadays. If any of you can [...]
From Diner's Journal by Kim Severso If we need more signs of how bad it is out there for cooks, let’s turn to the Hot Dog Indicator. Larry Bain and Sue Moore, who run hot dog carts in San Francisco and Los Angeles, were looking for some part time help. Now mind you, their "Let's [...]
I just ran across an established hot dog cart business for sale in Bakersfield, CA. It's located in front of a busy Lowe's home improvement center and has annual sales of $92,000. Not bad. The owner has listed this business through a broker, and it is a franchise operation, so there are some extra costs [...]
Laurie Booth remembers a hot dog cart on every corner near her childhood home in Queens, New York. And at every cart, the street vendors were serving up boiled Sabrett hot dogs, most with a traditional red onion sauce on top. The name Sabrett is synonymous with a top quality New York dog for Booth, [...]
