How the business started:
- John Kowalski is a Rochester, N.Y., transplant who moved to Miamisburg while working for a printing company and NCR contractor. He liked the area and decided to stay but missed the popular Zweigle's hot dogs and sausages made in Rochester. With a background in sales, a degree in business management and a strong entrepreneurial bent, he set out to start his own small business selling hot dogs and hamburgers from an easily transportable cart.
In 2012, he wrote a business plan and overview and went in search of investors willing to provide some seed money. He approached business owners in the area and eventually found an angel investor willing to help finance some of the costs. Kowalski, who has no connection to the well-known Kowalski Sausages of Hamtramck, Mich., raised enough money to start a hot dog stand featuring a covered work area and professional grill. Future plans include buying the cart.
What makes the business stand out:
- Kowalski serves both red and white Zweigle hot dogs. The white hot dogs, which separate from the skins while grilling, have been ranked in the top 10 hot dogs nationally. Another popular menu item is the meat sauce used to cover the hot dogs and hamburgers. Kowalski obtained the sauce recipe from a Greek restaurant in Rochester.
“I love to cook and I love to eat, so this is an ideal job for me,” said Kowalski, who grew up in the Rochester suburb of Webster. “In the Rochester area, hot dog restaurants have “hots” in their name, like Rochester Hots, or Webster Hots, so I decided to call my business Kowalski Hots.”
- What the business does:
In addition to selling at festivals like the June 8 Fried Green Potato Festival in Miamisburg, Kowalski Hots also partners with One Bistro in Miamisburg to cater events.
Customer comment:
• “He’s getting them from New York and they’re really good,” said Robert Adamson, a Kowalski repeat customer and Director and Executive Chef of One Bistro in Miamisburg. “The sauce he makes is phenomenal. It’s really unique to the area … nobody has anything in that style. He catered my wife’s birthday party and everyone liked it. They have a different flavor and good quality.”
Contact information (Store hours, phone number, web or email)
For more information call (937) 313-2175, view Kowalski Hots on Facebook or email Kowalski at kowalskihots@gmail.com. Information via text notifications about upcoming festival venues can be obtained by using the text short code 90210.
Contact this writer at jjbaer@aol.com
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