Three weeks into her new lunchtime business, Tracy Merrill of Windham said things are already booming.
She runs a hot dog cart with her 16-year-old daughter Samantha Marcello in the parking lot of McCracken’s Motorcycles and the law office of Erika Frank on Route 302 in North Windham.
“The girls are so fun to talk to,” said Frank, a regular customer. “The food is great and cheap.”
When not selling hot dogs, both Maine’s trademark red franks and plain brown ones, Merrill is a professional massage therapist /////where? business name?//////.
“I do a lot of morning and evening massage appointments,” said Merrill. She said the lunchtime business fits very neatly into the gap in her schedule.
The hot dog stand is open weekdays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Merrill said it will be open until September. She also makes her own chili from scratch for chili dogs.
Merrill said she wanted to help her daughter get a summer job that would allow her time to see her father on weekends. He lives in York Beach.
“No one is going to hire her when she says she needs next week off to visit her father,” said Merrill.
Merrill said she had no clue how to start a lunch business but got a lot of friendly help from Roger Timmons and Mabel Darby-Morey at the code enforcement office and businessman Peter Busque who owns the land where she sets up shop.
“He was really nice, he helped me through all my paperwork,” said Merrill.
Merrill said the one thing she doesn’t like about her new business is the name. When she was filling out her paperwork she needed a name for the hot dog stand and chose “Yo Diggity Dogs.”
“Someone already had ‘Hot Diggity Dogs,'” she said. She said he wants to change the name but still hasn’t thought of a good replacement.
YoDiggityDogs01-02: Tracy Merrill, owner of a new hot dog stand in Windham, serves a frankfurter to a customer at her cart next to Route 302.
YoDiggityDogs01-02: Tracy Merrill, owner of a new hot dog stand in Windham, serves a frankfurter to a customer at her cart next to Route 302.
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