Laserfiche WebLink
11/13/2017 Are Food Trucks Good or Bad for the Twin Cities? | streets.mn <br />https://streets.mn/2012/07/09/are-food-trucks-good-or-bad-for-the-twin-cities/8/14 <br />Julie K July 9, 2012 at 7:37 am # <br />Food trucks also have a few other uses that I think have only just started to be explored. For <br />instance, the Minnesota Stars FC, the local Division 2 pro soccer team, play out of the NSC in Blaine. <br />They've been getting different food trucks to park in the "beer garden" during each game, which <br />instantly expands the food selection at the game for the better. (Last week's games had Anchor at one, <br />Rusty Taco at another.) It also, honestly, is better for facility owners in that many owners of such <br />sporting facilities are NOT food purveyors. It's why food at that kind of event sucks so bad — they're <br />once a week (at most) kitchens with limited revenue, so renting out management has to be done to <br />mass glop-n-sloppers. <br />It made me think, a little, of the debate a few years back where Minneapolis investigated putting a DQ <br />in the Lake Harriet concessions spot, because the Park Board was unprofitable running an ice cream <br />place there on their own. Which of course! Give the facility to someone who knows what they're doing! <br />Win! There was a lot of opposition and it got shut down. (I remember one objection being that DQ <br />would actually be good, so more would get sold, so more trash = do not approve. Which was kind of <br />epic logic.) Food trucks can provide some flexibility for those kinds of venues, or for streetfairs and <br />neighborhood events — the food quality is better than standard-issue carnival chow, and the trucks <br />have a decent business model to sustain them. <br />Sam Newberg July 9, 2012 at 8:40 am # <br />Bill, I love the piece, but I'd put the conomic argument slightly ahead of using the public <br />space. As fundamentally important as it is for food trucks to occupy public space and lure <br />people out to enjoy it, I do believe the worthiness of food trucks as you put it, as "little <br />incubators of future shops" is spot on. Food trucks give an entrepreneuer a lower-risk opportunity to <br />test their idea. So, rather than sign a lease, open a restaurant and be out of business in six months, <br />reinforcing the idea that no business can survive in that particular retail location, you've vetted your <br />idea, made some money and now are looking for a permanent home. It is like a minor league farm <br />system for restaurants! <br />Daniel Olson July 9, 2012 at 12:22 pm # <br />I suspect downtown Minneapolis food trucks have taken revenue from skyway lunch spots <br />more than street-level restaurants. I'm not sure about the magnitude of the effect, but it would be <br />interesting to see figures about business closures and skyway rents to see if the impact has been <br />material. Ancedotely, the skyway food spots that have gone under have been quickly replaced. At least <br />one skyway space was recently filled by a business that started as a food truck (Turkey To-go). <br />From a consumer prospective food trucks are positive as they increase competition and offer quick <br />food at decent prices. If a few uninspired brick-and-mortar lunch places are replaced by food trucks <br />selling low-cost interesting food, its a win for consumers.