Thursday Nov 6, 2014
Back in the day James Coney Island held forth in a narrow street side shop.The line of customers stretched into the street outside. Wile there were lots of offerings on the Blackboard, only two things were really sold, as the name suggests, hot dogs, and chili.
Old school desks served as tables and there crammed together for maximum seating. You would see both coat and tie and blue collar lunch crowd side by side.
I checked just now and the downtown location is gone, all to the suburbs. The new menu has given way to
burgers and more dogs, but yes, the chili is still there.
Yet where are the chili parlors in San Antonio today? The town is littered with Tex Mex eateries yet none of them, not a one, features a bowl of chili on the menu.
It ws not always like this. From 1860s to the 1930s San Antonio Chili Queens dispensed Texas favorite dish in the downtown area. NPR did a story on the Chili Queens suggesting the story is 200years old.
The wagon in the background suggests 1890-1900 along with the mode of dress in this photo of chili stands
In 1977 the Texas Legislature declared chili con carne to the the official state dish of Texas.
So, lots of money has been made in fast food. It looks to me like this is an idea just waiting to be found again.
What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 1:9
And that quote is about 3,500 years old.
So with Alan Preston and Leonard Love offering their entrepreneurship class, it seems to me this is an idea whose time has come, again.
Chili carts around the UTSA campus, one small shop selling chili in a crowded area, take out is a must, and then there are all sort of varieties, but no doubt one simply needs the basic red meat, powder sauce, variety to get going.
I mean I wonder how many cans of Wolf Brand chili are sold in Texas each year? Just looking at their web site makes me reach for the alka seltzer, good grief.
Anyway, never mind finding a job, here is an enterprise waiting for an entrepreneur.
PS be sure to study chapter six in the garrison managerial accounting text on break evenand target profit to integrate into your business plan!
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