Would You Buy a PB&J Sandwich Off the Street?
If borekas and egg rolls, why not PB&J Sandwiches!?
If you thought the whole “law student couldn’t get a job so opens a cupcake truck” story was crazy… what about this one? Got this email in the old ML inbox the other day:
Hi Zach,
I’ve hatched an idea due to extended unemployment, and I thought you’d be the best qualified to tell me if it is feasible or not. During my days of working in Midtown your site was a bible.
It’s pretty simple: set up a small table on a busy corner and sell peanut butter and jelly sandwiches from a cooler for a few bucks. That’s more than the cost of making them, so I’d pull a profit. And it’s cheaper than other lunch options, and who doesn’t like PB&J?
But what about a vendor’s license?
Part of me thinks that there’s probably some vendor’s license required, and Health Department etc. But another part of me thinks that it’s just like a kid setting up a lemonade stand, and that’s perfectly legal. I’ve asked several friends for their thoughts but they have no idea, and I don’t want to be shooed away/ ticketed by the cops and end up with 20 extra sandwiches on my hands.
Do you have any thoughts as to the legality/feasibility of this endeavor? I’d really appreciate it. If it gets off the ground, the first sandwich is yours, complementary of course.
Many thanks,
Dan M.
Sounds like a foolproof scheme to me! Are times really that tough? You’d probably have to sell a lot of sandwiches to make a living. Perhaps you should consider knock of scarves and handbags as well? I suppose if this lady can sell homemade Ecuadorian food out of a grocery cart on 46th Street, I guess you could get by selling PB&J.
Lunchers, what do you think of the “feasibility of this endeavor?”
Posted: 1:30 pm, June 11th, 2009 under Ask Midtown Lunch.
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37 Comments
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Well, there’s a Peanut Butter & Co. shop in the W. Village. If they can get away with $6-7+ sandwiches, I’m sure someone else could. I probably wouldn’t buy either though, store or cart.
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Sorry, the foul weather is making me grumpy.
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You’d have to sell them for less than $2, which is what some midtown deli’s charge for similar fare (PB&J on a English muffin, for example).
So unless you’re willing to spend time making the sandwich, transporting, and evading the po-po — just to eek out maybe $1 – $1.50 per sandwich — you mind as well just sign up to work for Cha-Cha.com…
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Really? I have to say, are there that many people who will buy a sandwich from a person with a table on the street corner? Even a well-dressed, clean person?
I think just for credibility you’d need some sort of cart or stand. After that, though, $2.50 for a sandwich (that way you get the quarters as your “tip” sometimes) that you can make for about 50 cents, in a variety of jellies — and be sure to use the high-end PB — you could sell, what, 50? for $100 profit minimum per 3-hour day, less vendor’s license and cart cost.
Add in a cooler full of sodas at 50 cents profit per can, and I could see that working, after you are able to double your sandwich-selling ability, if a modest living is all you’re asking for.
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I say no, because PB&J is 1) very easy to make 2) very fast to make 3) consists of ingredients that are readily available and 4) does not require heating/chilling or special preparation so I see no benefit in buying it on the street. I can easily buy my own ingredients and assemble this sandwich myself. you’d have to be able to significantly differentiate your product from what I can create on my own in order to get me to buy it. Though … people said this about the feasibility of bottled water (what! I can get it free from the tap!) or starbucks… but each of these examples confers an advantage to the purchaser over what they can prepare themselves.
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Dear Dan M.,
Your views intrigue me. I wish to subscribe to your newsletter.
Very truly yours,
DDR -
I dunno— I did quite well selling grilled cheese on the Grateful Dead tours in the 90s… but then my needs might have been less then they are now….
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oh man – if there was a grilled cheese cart, i’d be all over that
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You’d be run off by mad Halal guy trying to behead you.
Infidel.
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Yeah I’ve been known to eat some PB&J in my life, but this is only when (like today) I am SO BROKE that I open up my fridge and take stock of what I can bring for lunch and am left with only a childhood staple as a brown bag possibility. In short: If I am eating PB&J, that means I have no more money to pay someone for a sandwich.
On the other hand if you offer to sell me a grilled cheese when I am stoned out of my mind, odds are I will shell out however many dollars require.
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I would also be all over grilled cheese. See, grilled cheese has to be prepared and I can’t do this in my cube… sometimes I am so desperate for a fix that I have to settle for those packs of Lance grilled cheese crackers!
http://www.taquitos.net/crackers/Captains_Wafers_Grilled_Cheese
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I’ve got a better idea. Sell a baggie with sealed jars of PB, J, a loaf of Wonder and a plastic knife.
Higher margin, enough food for a week, better value for the customer, less labor, less sanitary issues.
Copyright, wayne, 2009 – I get a piece of the action
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hahaha @Rudy
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Having married an American…i once asked her to make me a PB&J…..no wonder you keep shooting each other.
The twins love them tho…eat them watching Sex and the City…….explaining Tea bagging was a little tricky.
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Wayne’s package idea sounds like a survival kit. Don’t forget to throw in the lighter and roll papers. Haha.
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Tony “the Dragon” Dragonas might need a new apprentice. Ask him for a job.
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@ Apikoros18:
HAHAHA….I was at the Jones Beach Phish shows this past weekend and not much has changed. Heady grilled cheese still rules the lot! Nothing like a sandwich made by a dreadlocked wook to ease into the summer months.
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In my Opinion, Yes and No.
I would buy a PB&J off of someone if it has more than what I can expect to get at home. Like Spicy PB and Chicken Sammie… PB Fluff and a banana… etc. and it would have to be made to order (i hate soggy pb and js)
I would not buy a sammie from a guy standing on the corner with a cooler of sandwiches.
What if you made “lunch bags” with a sammie, a side (piece of fruit/chips) and a drink? that might be worth a shot… -
I hope you were planning on making your own jelly. No midtown luncher would buy a regular pb&j sandwich off the street. Maybe if you used a jam to make us feel fancy (strawberry rhubarb, fig) and deep fried it we might be tempted.
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I agree with “Waiting For BajaFresh”. You always have to think about the consumer’s alternative option. That would be a PB&J at a deli. I for one would probably lean on getting the PB&J from a deli than a guy on the street unless it was some special PB&J (it would have to be pretty special). So unless you have some secret recipe, I would say that as a business it doesn’t seem like a great idea. I would try to think of something that is not as easily accessible. For example, the Ecuadorian ‘Cart’ works because it’s an item that is not easily accessible. PB&J is too common.
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Dan, I hope this is not your only idea. Or your best.
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They’re $4.75 at sandwich planet. Just get girls or kids to sell them and you’d make a mint.
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Dude–Be careful if you embark on this, as they will be quick to hall you off to the pokey if they catch you selling food without a license. It works fine in like a tailgating scene like a Jets game or a Dead show, but not on the Streets of NYC, where the competition is beyond fierce. And rest assured, some pissed off halal vendor will definitely rat you out if they see you…You’ll end up spending more on bail and court costs than you will making money.
Honestly, you’d be better off dressing up as a beggar and standing on the corner of 23rd and 6th. I was going to do that several times, as a social experiment, to see how much I could panhandle, but I am afraid that it will mess with my law license if I’m found out, since technical, it is a crime…
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i would not buy anything from a man trying to replicate a childrens lemonade stand type of idea.
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Goats- there was an article in the voice some years ago about a man who made his living panhandling… i beleive he banked $100+ per day.
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not to hijack the thread or anything, but this PB&J stuff reminds me of seeing people getting cold cereal at a diner. PB&J, much like cold cereal are easy enough for anyone to do without having to go through some middle man on the street (or in a diner) for convenience. Although, I may steal your idea as part of the dream I have of opening up my own diner truck.
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@ Monique: I know. I think I read that article, which is why I’ve been contemplating the idea for some time! If I get layed off, you will be able to catch me, live, at 23rd and 6th, Mon-Sat. Unfortunately, despite some of my best efforts,including getting the koobface virus (from Facebook) on my work computer, I don’t think I will be lucky enough to get laid off….I want unemployment dammnit! Combine that with my panhandling, and I’ll be RICH! And then I can eat all the Midtown Lunches I want!
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with all this talk about street vendors, it seems like food trucks pop up all the time. it must be a lot easier to get a food truck license/permit or something.
and btw dan, you should check out the street vendor project. (google it)
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you need to offer something that no other pb&j vendor can offer. very hard without increasing cost. I think you’re SOL on this idea dude. your only saving grace would be either great charisma or a hot sales girl.
and to get that license, the best way is to be honorably discharged (medical discharge works too though i don’t think they call it that) from the military. then you can skip the 10 year line. i would know, i tried to get a license last year.
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pretty terrible idea
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This might be the worst idea i’ve ever heard.
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Maybe bologna, ham, turkey w. cheese should be added to the line-up?
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Didn’t this guy read the “Street Vendor Poster” entry?
Didn’t Zach (ans all those q’s)…?!?
(I know; Zach just eats…)
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i wouldn’t, no offense. PB&J is one of my fav foods and i make it every morning for breakfast — 100% whole wheat + natural PB + low sugar grape jelly. it’s perfection, but probably runs me all of $1 to make!
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If you would be willing to distribute these sandwiches through Walgreens, then I’d be up for it.
Even better if they were deep-fried first.
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deep fried. now there’s an idea i can stand behind. make sure it’s twice fried like kfc/pommesfrites so it stays crisp
Hey Dan, with all that time on your hands you should probably:
1. learn to use search engines
2. learn the difference between complementary and complimentary
PS. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/permit/mfv_license_appl.pdf