Story: The Taco Lady

About two years ago I managed a gas station with a taco restaurant. Both were privately owned by the same person, my boss. They were located in a small town with other, cheaper, gas stations - so to guarantee business for ourselves - we gave discounts to the larger companies in town. They would buy gas from us, we offered a slight discount in exchange, and that's how we set ourselves apart.

The employees from the other companies would come in and buy food from the taco place and merchandise from the store when they bought gas. Typically for breakfast and lunch. It was a double win for us.

But suddenly, we noticed a drop in lunch time sales. It was a small town, so by asking around I found out the cause. Someone was selling lunch plates directly in the parking lot of one of our biggest fuel accounts, and they were doing it for less. They were selling the food right out of the back of their car. No license, no permits, no temperature control. People were going to her instead of us.

So, my boss told me I had to call the city and report them for operating without a permit. He gave me a long lecture about how it was for the safety of the community, and how it was "unfair" that they could operate at lower costs than us because they were avoiding the requirements of having bathrooms, hand washing stations, permits, rent and licensing.

I was told to report them, so that's what I did. And by the end of the week, they were issued a citation (no fine), and the company parking lot they were selling food in banned their employees from bringing outside food inside the building after they clocked in.

Sales returned to normal.

But about 3 months later, our sales dipped again around lunch time.

I found out that the lady who was selling the food from her car before had now purchased a food trailer, fully licensed and permitted, and began selling the same meals as before. She was selling her lunch items in the parking lots of other businesses who agreed to host her, giving her customers access to their bathrooms.

It started with just lunch.

Then she started selling breakfast.

Then she extended her hours into the evening, cutting into dinner.

Her food quickly became a local favorite. And finding her almost became a game on social media, because she was always in a different spot for breakfast lunch and dinner. Locals would post photos and share her location every day so other people could find her.

Initially, we lost about 5% in sales when she was selling from her trunk. Once she had the food trailer, we were down 12% for the day. To combat that, we had to advertise aggressively to attract new customers to replace the ones we lost.

I left the company shortly after that, but I do know that the sales picked back up.

Like I said, that was two years ago. I drove through that town again recently, and I saw her taco truck. She has a permanent location now, and a packed parking lot.

As for the place I worked for, well, let's just say it's not exactly the symbol of prosperity it once was.