KENNEWICK, Wash.–The Summer’s Hub in Kennewick, despite its name, will be open for winter, and businesses are already bundling up to keep their trucks open in the upcoming months.
Charlotte Williams, KC’s Biscuits and BBQ co-owner, said the winter months make business a challenge, and one of the hardest parts involves the hood over the cook line, meant to direct smoke into metal filters to ensure the truck does not get too hot or smokey inside.
“When that hood is on, you open the window and it’s drawing that cold air directly into the trailer, (there’s) a good 5 to 10 mile an hour breeze hitting you constantly,” Williams said. “So the colder it is outside, the colder you’re going to get with that window open.”
Because of this, a lot of food truck operators will bundle up from head to toe in winter gear to combat the cold, she said.
Buriram Bites Co-owner Nichkain Major said her business is in the same boat, but offers delivery services so customers do not have to brave the cold weather.
Major said during the winter, the business does not always stay open for its full hours, though.
“In the day, we get less sales than normal,” she said. “So we just close a little bit early, so everyone can go home.”
Williams said her business has winter hours where they are closed one less day of the week due to a similar decline in sales.
That helps our bottom line so that we’re not using resources that we’re not making enough money to cover,” she said.
KC’s Biscuits and BBQ does play it by ear though, and Williams said last year, when temperatures hit single digits, people got cabin fever and still came out to get food.
“They wanted to get out. It didn’t matter the weather. They didn’t care,” she said. “We had good sales those days.”
Information on food truck hours this winter can be found on the Summer’s Hub website.
