Terry Scanlon serves customers during lunch hour on the corner of Laurier Avenue and Bank Street.
Those who want to learn the art of running a successful business should take a lesson or two from Terry Scanlon.
Thirty years after he started selling hotdogs on the corner of Bank Street and Laurier Avenue, Scanlon has kept customers coming back for more.
“I have a great desire to be with people,” says Scanlon as he waves at a familiar face.
He used to be a photographer and took passport photos and pictures for wedding albums.
But once his boss retired, Scanlon decided to put down his camera and bought a vending cart.
The long hours that keep vendors on their feet could be tiring, but Scanlon has a degenerative disc disease that doesn’t allow him to sit for long periods of time. His feet swell after some time so he buys sneakers three sizes bigger.
“I also make my own orthopedics with foam inserts, and it feels like cushions on my feet,” he says.
His red and yellow cart stands out among the sea of black and grey suits in the business district of Ottawa.
Virtual Tourist and Travel Advisor websites have named Scanlon’s cart as the spot for best hotdogs in the city.
CBC’s Ottawa Morning recently paid him and his cart a visit, congratulating him on his thirtieth anniversary.
He believes he has to have quality products in order to please his customers.
“You’ve got to have a fresh roll, top quality wiener, good ingredients for the top of the hotdog and a good cooking procedure,” he says. “That’s how you get them to keep coming back.”
Mayor Jim Watson says that Scanlon is a local institution and brings credit to his profession.
In an email, Watson said that Scanlon offers a “great product with very friendly service and reasonable prices.”
Scanlon says raising prices and skimping on quality is not the proper way to do business.
“People are going to notice it, they’re going to taste it. You’ve got to make sure they’re happy and if it costs me a few pennies to do it, then I’ll do it,” he says as he heats up a juicy sausage for a customer.
His approach has served him well. Scanlon has served his classic hotdogs to prime ministers, politicians and movie stars.
“The finance minister, Mr. Jim Flaherty comes by and we’ve had prime minister Brian Mulroney here too,” shares Scanlon.
Thomas McFarland lives in Orleans but comes to Scanlon’s cart when he’s in the city.
“They’re delicious so I don’t mind coming all the way for these hotdogs. He smiles and chats with me while he grills them too, that’s special,” says McFarland.
McFarland may have to continue coming down to the city for Scanlon’s hotdogs because the 67 year old has no plans of expanding his business to other parts of the city.
“We’re so successful with this one cart, that I don’t want to stress myself out with more. I don’t want to do things to my health over work,” he says.
His four-wheeled tin cart sits between government buildings, apartment towers and stores.
He says people have no choice but to pass by his cart, and when they do, his larger-than-life personality usually attracts them to buy a hotdog or a cold beverage.
If his charm doesn’t reel in customers, he says, his bright yellow signs and clean vending space draw attention to his cart.
“Squashed old coffee cups, cigarette butts, candy wrappers, things like that, it’s not good for business. We clean all that up so we have a good, comfortable and positive flow of energy going by,” he says.
He works 12 hours a day, six days a week, all throughout the year. He says that slow business in the winter does not stop him from showing up every morning for the daily bun delivery.
Subway, Quiznos’ and a chip truck down Laurier Avenue are his competition and failing to show up means losing important business.
“I’ve known Terry for close to 20 years and I’m not surprised he’s been around for three decades. He’s a great citizen and business person that brings some real colour and character to the downtown,” says Watson.
Scanlon says he has always gone the extra mile to ensure success.
“The customers are going to think ‘that’s a cold pop, and that hot dog is right on’,” he says. “They’re going to be satisfied and it’s only three bucks.”