Barbershops, Bars, and Other Businesses on Wheels Across America
Food trucks revolutionized the dining industry and gave many business owners a marketplace when the costs or accompanying demands of traditional restaurants were prohibitive. Now other businesses have followed suit and gone mobile. We found 20 innovative mobile businesses that provide the services you need — all in a van or truck.
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Lots of food trucks sell indulgent treats, but Shane Emerson is all about sweets with his Candy Food Truck that operates around Tulsa, Oklahoma. "The candy food truck has over 200 varieties of candy," Emerson says. "We also have three flavors of real Icee and a make-your-own pixie stick machine with 12 flavors." Emerson's truck didn't fit the usual food truck mold, so he had to get special approvals for his license so he could add slat wall to hold prepackaged candy.
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Anyone with a dog or a cat knows how difficult it can be to load them up in the car for the vet, let alone grooming. Mobile groomers such as Zoomin Groomin Marshfield, Massachusetts, Primp My Pet around Gilbert and Chandler, Arizona, and Muddy Buddies in Yorktown Heights, New York, remove at least one part of the hassle by coming to you. Mobile grooming is prolific, so just search online in your area. Now, getting the dog to sit still — well, that's what you pay them for.
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An ideal companion to food trucks when adults are looking for a refreshing beverage with their meal, there are numerous bartender trucks, including Seattle's Happy Camper Cocktail Co. "We added a Kegerator, plenty of storage, and a total of four small RV-style sinks with heaters in order to meet the health department requirements for mobile kitchens in our county, since we serve all fresh, garden-to-glass cocktails with real produce," owner Belinda Kelly says. Adding food service helped with her liquor license, too. "Luckily my state has a caterer's liquor license category allowing me to serve private parties. We must also have a food menu available and a catering kitchen, which is a big expense."
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You don't need to be Starbucks to make coffee mobile. Coffee trucks are everywhere, such as Georgia's Refuge Coffee or Rollin' Roast in Charlotte, North Carolina. Lots of bricks-and-mortar coffee shops also have trucks to cover a greater radius, such as Bearclaw out of Michigan or The Human Bean in Colorado.
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Amazon put plenty of bookstores out of business, but some live on, on the road. The owners of Twenty Stories, Emory Harkins and Alexa Trembly, drove their 1987 van from L.A. to Rhode Island, where they opened a bricks-and mortar-store. St. Rita's drives books around Montana, and The Story House specializes in children's books in Rockville, Maryland.
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Farmers don't even have to wait for local farmers markets anymore. They can just roll their own up to any street corner. Real Food Farm in Baltimore, The Trustees in Massachusetts, and Fresh Approach in Concord, California, are some of the farmer's markets that have taken their farms on the road.
Mobile florists are also pretty common, so check your area. Lucca's Flower Truck owner Alexa Hess in Newark, Ohio, got her idea from seeing Amelia's Flower Truck in Nashville, Tennessee, and bought her own VW truck just like it, adding holes for flower buckets. Ohio has its own challenges. "On the super hot days I order flowers that can handle the heat and make the sales shorter in length, so two hours at most," Hess says. "The winter sales are really just brutal for anyone coming to buy ... As long as there's no rain, the sale must go on."
The Game Truck is a nationwide franchise of party vehicles equipped with multiplayer video games for Xbox One, Playstation 4, or Nintendo systems. The trucks have dozens of game selections ... but most kids will probably choose Fortnite. The trucks will also bring equipment to transform a backyard into a laser tag arena.
Now that barbershops have gone mobile, maybe Hollywood can make a crossover of the "Barbershop" and "Fast and the Furious" franchises. Jay's Mobile Barber in Killeen, Texas, or Cut 'n Go in Southbridge, Virginia, have turned vans and trailers into full service barbershops.
A mobile salon can have all the luxury of a fancy spa. Pinkie's Mobile Nail Boutique travels Texarkana, Texas, making nails beautiful. The inside of Los Angeles' Colvon Mobile Nail Salon rivals Beverly Hills boutiques with sleek, white design and plush cushions. Or, try Sparkle Bus for children's parties around Pearland, Texas.
The gym is one of the most common things for people to put off until tomorrow. Now there's one less excuse, since these mobile trainers will come right to your home, bringing all the heavy equipment you need to pump up. Fit2You brings kettlebells, dumbbells, and bands to spots in and around Boston. Gym Guyz has weight stacks and barbells plus cardio, senior fitness, and more specialties for the people of Plainview, New York.
This is certainly a niche business, but International Honey Products' Colin Stone figured out how to take his East Selkirk, Manitoba, beekeeping business on the road. Now instead of keeping all the hives himself, Stone can drive up to hives and harvest the honey. Stone says he saves on cost and ends up producing more honey.
Most DJs bring their own equipment and library to set up for a party. These DJs never even have to unload their gear. DJ Truck, will just park at an outdoor event in London or any indoor space big enough to drive through. Slippers the Split Soundsystem, also in the U.K., gets a lot of gigs DJing VW shows with his 1961 VW conversion.
It's one thing to have a masseuse come to your house. It's quite another to get the full spa experience outside your front door. The Wizard of Aaahhz around Newton, New Jersey, has the zen setup for one person at a time. The MassageMobile encourages people around Phoenix to take turns for massage parties.
People in need of financial assistance may be too busy working to make ends meet to come into an office. Marsha Barnes, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, has taken financial planning on the road with The Finance Bar. She'll come to you for individual or couples coaching, but the bus is big enough for groups from offices or schools to learn how to manage money while they're young.
If cars are mobile, why should they all have to go to the same place for a wash or touch-up? Mobile detailers and washers such as Wax On Wheels in Wellington, Florida, hauls all the equipment in a trailer. Washos in Los Angeles and nearby Orange County incorporates an app for booking. San Antonio's The Hand Car Wash Mobile can also tackle boats and RVs.
Most parents of newborns choose disposable diapers because they just don't have time to wash and reuse cloth diapers. Canadian businesses such as Wonder Wear (in Concord, Ontario) and Bear Bottoms (also around Ontario) give parents an incentive to be green. They'll pick up the soiled cloth and replace it with fresh stock every week. Tiny Tots of northern California also offers diaper service, but there's plenty more room for growth in this young industry.
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Sometimes trash can give back to the planet. You're already putting trash out on the curb every week, and maybe even separating recycling. To put food scraps and paper products to sustainable use, compost them and pay companies such as We Compost It in Auburn, Maine, or the Compost Cab in Washington, D.C., to pick it up.
It doesn't make much sense to have a stationary graffiti removal business. Graffiti occurs out in the field, so you'll have to be mobile anyway. Businesses such as Goodbye Graffiti in Vancouver, British Columbia, drive their war wagons to the offensive site. In Toledo, Ohio, the city took it upon themselves and built its own Graffiti Removal Unit.
There's nothing like that new trash can smell ... and this San Antonio company wants to bring it back even after weeks and weeks of trash service. Trash Can Cleaners will drive by and give those cans a thorough cleansing so you'll never know your expired food or wet paper towels were tossed in there last week.
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