IT’S NEARLY 2 PM on a rainy November afternoon and the smell
carried on a sudden wind gust across the intersection of N Mississippi
and Skidmore is absolutely incredible. The mouth-watering odor emanates
from a cluster of colorful food carts, adjacent to the new bar Prost.
This is the Mississippi Marketplace, Portland’s newest “cart pod.”
The carts encircle a covered outdoor eating area and a few people
huddle here and there to enjoy a blustery late lunch out of the rain.
Their options were rich: vegetarian sushi, meaty sopapillas, pizza,
fried-egg breakfast sandwiches, desserts, and soups. Most of the carts
here are brand new. A few have relocated from other parts of the city.
All are part of a Portland trend that continues to grow even as winter
approaches.
Food cart ownership is on the rise in Portland. In 2008 the
Multnomah County Health Department gave annual mobile food unit
licenses to 370 carts and trucks. Due to demand, 2009 saw a nearly 25
percent increase in the number of licenses handed out by the health
department. Currently, there are 461 licensed mobile food units in
Multnomah County. Another 34 or so are in the process of applying for
permits.
Food carts are taking over previously empty and unsightly urban
niches all over the city, and the activity has attracted the fickle eye
of national media, from network and cable news to (now defunct)
national magazines. Whether a result of media hype or smart
entrepreneurs making a choice to go small in a wounded economy, the
Portland cart boom has been unstoppable.
Brett Burmeister documents the cart scene for the blog Food Carts
Portland (foodcartsportland.com). He marks
the beginning of the boom as the opening of downtown lunch and
breakfast cart Brunch Box and fried pie cart Whiffies.
“Those types of carts shot the cart scene into the stratosphere,” he
says. “These are not your parents’ carts. This is a new generation of
cart owners.” Owners that have a grasp of social media and a sense of
creativity and artistry, according to Burmeister.
However, while carts like Whiffies offer an inexpensive niche
product nimbly marketed with new technologies like Twitter, the
strategy may not be foolproof. So far Portland eaters have been able to
sustain the crowded mobile food community. But can it last? With winter
on the way, the question remains if all 91 new carts opened this year
will survive a saturated market and cold months.
“I think this winter will really tell,” says Burmeister, adding, “I
don’t think we’ll see a wholesale closing of carts over the winter.”
From his perspective, a cart’s survival will come down to “loyalty,
customer base, and quality.”
Ziba Ljucevic, owner of Bosnian food cart Ziba’s Pitas and a
three-year cart veteran, agrees.
“First, you need to have your customers,” she says. “For me, the
customer is all.” Still, Ljucevic notes there is more to think about.
She relies on her background in accounting and her years of
experience.
“I know what is good for me to do,” she says, offering an example.
“Every morning I listen to the weather. If afternoon is rain, I know
how much food to make.”
It’s strategies like these that have kept her cart successful, even
through December. However, Ljucevic cautions, “If you are not thinking?
No business. If you don’t know, you better close.”
Back at the Mississippi Marketplace, Kir Jensen, owner of dessert
cart the Sugar Cube, has just reopened in her new location after
closing her previous cart last winter.
Jensen blames several factors for the closing of the first Sugar
Cube, but admits a bit of naïvety. “When I started I had stars in
my eyes,” she says. “It was great during the summer. You pick up the
momentum; you think everything’s great; and then boom, the weather hits
and it’s a different story.”
Jensen stresses that it’s important for new cart owners to have at
least a six-month financial buffer. This year, she’s not taking any
chances and has secured financing to use in case business slows or
unforeseen circumstances should arise. However, she is optimistic about
the additional protection of the new pod.
As we talk at her cheery Neapolitan-colored cart, Sugar Cube fans
hover around waiting to order something sweet.
“I’m excited,” Jensen says. “I think it’s going to be good. I’m
happy to be here; happy to be open again. I just want to do what I want
to do.”
This is so funny and astute — what an appropriate piece right now. Just this week my spouse-like-unit and I were walking to the Jolly Roger for some NFL action on Monday, after a cold and rainy Hawthorne Market that saw a 60% drop in business from all prevoius weeks, and he asked aloud how crummy weather was going to affect the Hawthorne POD (Parking-lot Of Distinction).
I submit that no one feels the rain when they’re well-loaded, and that’d be just about everyone after midnight. Without the reliable 20-something party that rocked the HP through all those long summer nights, those many-hours long tweet-ups might shift into looking something more akin to the more ephemeral “flash mob.” They’ve had all summer to make addicts out of folks (damn your salmon pie and the man tire that about a hundred of them caused).
More proactively, offering some warming choices as well as things designed to soak up gin might be the ticket. May I humbly suggest hot cider, cocoa and some sort of soup and baguette special. (also, as Scottie sez, “‘fer yer broke ass”).
That said, I think the elephant in the room is that a less rainy winter (according to the Forest Grove Old-timers) will mean more frequent and severe hard freezes (below 25F) that could cause some damage to poorly insulated carts, as I suspect most first-year carts are. And, when revenues are down by (let’s say a modest 10-30% from high-summer) license fees, taxes and permits that come due during this season could become cart- *and* heart-breaking if coupled w/ a big, fat repair or propane bill.
In short, I’d expect about as much attrition w/ 1st year carts as you’d see in any first year restaurant business in Portland. And, if the menus change just a tad (or a ton) to reflect that change in sason, all the better.
Now, if only someone would make a pickle cart and show me some fermented cabbage love….
-Marie, Sellwood Garden Club
People’s Republic of SE Portland
Interesting article. I hope new and old carts alike continue to flourish through the winter!
Just out of curiousity, when you discuss the number of licensed mobile units, are you including the significant number of drive-thru coffee shacks that are also classified as mobile units by the county? Or is the 370 mobile units for 2008 just food carts, taco trucks, and sidewalk push carts?
Not a huge deal either way, but it’s worth noting that licensed mobile units includes more businesses than just food carts.
A lot of PDX’s food carts plan to close soon for the winter. They view their business as seasonal. And it’s easy to see why – pedestrian and bike traffic goes way down in bad weather, eating outside becomes less than pleasant, customers shift to warm indoor venues….the cart scene on Alberta is a good example of this seasonal slowdown.
But carters are an ingenious bunch….those that stay open this winter will make adjustments, and the best ideas will get picked up by others. For example, I look to see more converted bus/dining areas such as the Grilled Cheese Grill’s.
One especially hopeful development is the ‘pod’…a collection of carts surrounding a common eating area. With a sheltered space to eat in, some propane heat, and support for the local scene, such pods could be the key to a vibrant year-round cart scene in the years ahead.
“…the question remains if all 91 new carts opened this year will survive a saturated market and cold months.”
No it doesn’t.
Of course all 91 won’t survive. They didn’t even survive the summer. The overall number of foodcarts will probably grow, but let’s not pretend that opening a cart makes you less immune to the marketplace than does opening a storefront. If your food sucks and/or if your service is bad, then odds are it won’t survive. Rightfully so. And there are certainly carts out there whose prices are too high and whose food is average at best.