_Community_
Product, weather gauge pushcart s success
f*Hntu fa> Stark Vl«i
Taverns Zeus' Libby Gilbert exchanges a smile with Mike
Sceletli. a regular al the pushcart. The success of the local
pushcart business depends on the weather and the product
sold, say some vendors. Only a few businesses have survived
for more than one year.
By Hon Walker
Emerald Reporter
Pushcart vendors selling ev
erything from sushi to < repes to
flowers have been a part of the
Fugene downtown mall for
more than 10 years
Since the first (.arts opened
their windows to customers
some have profited, hut many
have shut down after less than
a year of operation Downtown
< art merchants agree that prof
its depend on the weather and
the products sold, and unique
challenges can arise from a
unique enterprise
One downtown pushcart
business that has sum eeded is
Cart de Frisco, which was cre
ated by University alumnus hit
Tangtrongjita in 1‘tHti Cart de
I risco was among the first
group of c arts at the downtown
mall
Tangtrongjita operated tin*
cart at the mall himself until
and he has since expand
ed the business to four carts
with the possible addition of
franchises in the future.
“I believe in simplicity, and
the pushcart concept is sim
ple," he said
Customers are attracted to the
combination of a unique prod
uct and an appealing c art de
sign. he said "The whole con
cept tiehind all this is architec
ture and industry combined.”
Cart de Frisco is "something
that started small and went
mg, sain ijawnie i.arison, an
employee who has been serving
drinks and "Eugene's own
sandwiches" from the down
town c arl during the past year
Business at Carl de Frisco
usually is brisk, rain or shim*.
Carlson said "The weather
doesn't affec t us too much be
cause we do have regulars"
who frequent the (arts down
town and near the University
on a weekly or even daily basis,
she said
However, the growing profit
ability of Cart de Frisco may be
the exception rather than the
rule to the downtown pushcart
industry
l-avelle Prater sliced a long
strqi of dough inside the
cramped Fri-jo's Swedish Pas
try cart as she spoke about the
"good old days" of about five
years ago About a dozen push
< art businesses graced the
downtown mall then, she said,
many of which lasted less than
one year
The Fri-jo's cart has been
open for 11 years, making it
one of the oldest surviving bus
inesses of its kind at the mail.
During the 10 years she has
worked at the Fri-jo's cart.
Prater has seen other vendors
selling food ranging from burri
tos and corned beef sandwiches
to cuisine from India and Cuba.
Most memorable, she said, was
Lulu's, a cart which sold cider
based fruit drinks.
Many of the short-lived push
cause of the commitment that is
required of the entrepreneur,
said Janice Boh man of the Ku
gene Planning, Development
and Building Department Boh
man is manager of the down
town mall
Some merchants are unpre
pared to operate their carts five
hours a dav five davs a week
which is the minimum time
recommended by the city's
pushcart program Some carts
are open seven days a week
"The business of those that
have been here awhile is ((in
stant. hut new ones can strug
gle." she said
Some downtown (.art ven
dors whose businesses do poor
ly find that they can make al
most the same profit by work
ing one day at Saturday Mar
ket. Bohman said
Many carls, she said, folded
when "the amount of work
wasn't worth what they were
making" financially. In addi
tion. "They need a good prod
uct to make it worthwhile
down here. It has to make peo
ple stop when they walk by."
Besides economic chal
lenges. cart vendors face dif
ficulties unique to their trade,
for example, hauling a cart
into a warehouse each night
can be an Inconvenience.
“For five years we had to
take (the Kri-jo's cart) off tin;
Turn to Pushcarts, Page 5
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Promoters may hold
fate of new ice rink
By Bevin Gilmore
Emerald Contributor
The Lane County fair
grounds will soon lx* home to a
recreational ice skating rink
again and a new horse arena in
the bargain Hut the success or
failure of the ice rink may lie
with its promoters, fairgrounds
Manager Steve Mi ('ulloch said.
When the idea ol an ice rink
lirst was proposed, a market
feasibility study was commis
sioned by the county. The
study com luded that the exist
ing population base was ade
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Turn to Rink, Page 5
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