BANDERA, Texas -- In hard times, some small-town Americans are turning to a new livelihood with relish.
Among them are Andrea and Ben Guajardo. They began selling hot dogs from a pushcart on Main Street in November.
Ms. Guajardo is a grant administrator for a health-care system. Her husband, Ben, is a pipeline operator. Theirs is the first hot-dog stand in Bandera, pop. 957, that anybody here can remember.
"It's a backup plan," says Ms. Guajardo, a mother of four. "No one knows what's going to happen with the economy, and I don't want to have to scrounge for a minimum-wage job."
Sarah E. Needleman/The Wall Street Journal
Andrea and Ben Guajardo both work full-time, but began selling wieners with help from their four kids in November.
Facing pay cuts and weakened job security, more Americans are turning to this century-old, big-city trade in outposts like Bandera, where cowboys on horseback share the road with motorcyclists. Many of these vendors are working professionals with day jobs, ranging from real-estate agents to train operators.
Sales of carts, which start at about $2,000 new, have heated up in the past year. "Every model is...taking off," says Joel Goetz, owner of American Dream Hot Dog Carts Inc. in St. Petersburg, Fla. Since January, he has sold about 25 carts a week, 15 more than usual.
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Ha...ha ha ha. (That's cute as hell)
ReplyDeleteReading your website headlines has given me 3 heart attacks, two strokes, and a shittin' hemorrhage. Now, a hot dog cart.
How much for a foot long?
Please, easy does it with the gloom and doomness. I'm in debt to my @$$ with medical bills to my proctologists.
Sounds like a wiener to me
ReplyDeleteHow many dog sales to pay off the 2 grand cart? What would be the bottom line profit on the sales of the Hot Dogs? Seems like the overhead would defeat the cause. I dont know about this one. At the American Legion, we sold hot dogs during bingo games, and never made a penny on them, and thats with very little overhead and a captive crowd. And that's at $1.50 per hot dog. These folks must be selling a $5.00 hot dog at a cost of $1.00 including the bun!
ReplyDeleteSeek God as your provider, not money. Those who have been chasing after the "almighty" dollar are just now realizing...it's the "wrong God"..
ReplyDeleteDo not worship the hot dog or the dollar bill. Put your faith in God and his followers. If all goes right, a priest will award you with his own hot dog when the time comes.
ReplyDeleteIt must be a 100% beef wiener, or I won't accept it.
ReplyDeletewill i make enough money selling weiners to pay a mortgage.
ReplyDeleteI bought a hot dog cart a few years ago for my retirement, but, now that I got laid off i'm thinking about starting it up. Any advise
ReplyDelete