A Real Estate Strategy for Boston hot dog vendors

Yes, Boston by Square Foot is not limited to office space. It is the entire experience of walking the streets of the City.

I've reached the boiling point, no pun intended, of the state of the hot dog vendor in Boston. The hot dog vendor is the quintessential element of a thriving commercial district. Walk down 6th Avenue in NYC and you will not pass a corner without at least one vendor. And the predominant client is not someone from Iowa, no offense intended to Iowans. The client is usually in business dress, perhaps with a few friends, enjoying two nice dogs and a coke, maybe on the library steps.
Same in Philly. Same in Chicago. Even Portland Maine has a vendor on every other corner.
What is with Boston? By my most recent count, there is a total of ONE, yes ONE hot dog vendor within the traditional boundaries of the Financial District--State Street to Atlantic Avenue to Summer Street to Arch Street.

There are vendors in the Common. There is a vendor in Downtown Crossing competing with the stinky nut guys and the Peruvian flute players. There are vendors at Faneuil Hall. There are vendors at the Aquarium. That is all well and good. When I play the tourist, I enjoy a good road dog, but if I were visiting Boston, I think I'd opt for the lobster roll.
The vendors need to rethink their strategy. It's all about the client. The clients are me. I don't like to eat at my desk. I like a breath of fresh air. To use the words of a close friend, I don't always want a "frilly" lunch with waiters who insist on telling me their names and sometimes where they are from. That's a pet peeve for another blog.

Here is my official strategic guide for hot dog vendors in Boston, based on the actual density of square footage in the City. There are 5 key corners to achieve and 7 secondary corners, all based on the density of office space within one block of the corner.

In order of strategic importance:
1. Post Office Square. Yes, I do see an occasional vendor there but nobody regularly. This is the geographic center of the Financial District. And there are benches and green grass. The Bank of America building alone is 1.3 million square feet.

2. Corner of High Street and Oliver Street. OK, High and Oliver are not exactly the quintessential streets of the city. But with the 2 towers of International Place, the two towers of 125 High Street, the State Street Bank Tower, and 260 Franklin, it is the single densest concentration of office space in the City. And Don Chiofaro lets you sit on his outside patio for free. We are talking about 6 million square feet of office space on one corner. Come on dog people.

3. Franklin and Federal. For 60 years, this has been the banking center of New England. Try Bank of America, Fidelity, State Street. Try 4 million square feet. Maybe its time for the Brahmin dog, served cold with a free Wall Street Journal.

4. State and Congress. Not worthy of any explanation. Even the English put their Governor's House, now Old State House here.

5. Where the lollipops once bloomed--Summer and High. Remember those weird spinning lollipops in front of what was the Blue Cross Building, now 100 Summer. When the wind would pick up, Blue Cross would send guys out with wires to secure it to the ground. I actually miss them. Anyway, there happens to be 3 million square feet on the corner and anyone coming from the T walks right by the building every day, whether from Downtown Crossing or South Station.

Secondary Options:

OK, you may not have what it takes to dominate the big corners. Here are your start up locations, with no comment--just check it out and stop being so lazy:

1. Broad and State.
2. Beacon and Tremont.
3. Liberty Square.
4. Winthrop Square.
5. Washington and State in front of One Boston Place.
6. Carry a box on your head, just like at Fenway, and just roam around yelling out Hot Dawwwgs, Hot Dawwwwwwwgs.
7. Hijack a Mr. Frosty.

I'm hungry and I'm not walking to the Aquarium for a hot dog.