Reanda Pierre, real estate agent and local owner of the Louisiana Business Center on Highway 90 in Luling, recently announced plans to expand her business location to include a new food truck village concept.
The Louisiana Business Center, located at 12153 Highway 90, is a co-networking business that occupies the site of a former retail bank building at the corner of Lakewood Drive and Highway 90. The location, which has undergone a modern makeover since Pierre took over the building, currently offers business and meeting space, with rooms also available for rent for small events.
The new food truck village, currently in planning stages, promises to be an extension of the Louisiana Business Center’s operations, which Pierre says is in business to serve other local area small businesses.
“This is just an opportunity for us to gather on a more consistent basis and have conversations around the table, but also support small businesses who are looking to get into the restaurant business, who might not want a full brick and mortar location or the expenses of overhead,” Pierre said. “So, it’s just a part of the overall plan.”
There has been an explosion of food truck businesses and food truck villages, popping up all around the country especially in major cities like Denver, Portland, Austin, Houston and Los Angeles. According to online data service SkyQuest, the food truck industry is poised to grow from $1.23 billion in gross sales in 2022 to over $2.04 billion by the year 2030.
Part of the allure of running a food truck business for entrepreneurs is the lower overhead – a typical food truck company costs around $50,000 to $60,000 to launch, versus the much higher initial investment required to open a new brick and mortar restaurant.
New restaurants carry higher risks during the startup phase, with the National Restaurant Association reporting 80 percent of most new restaurants fail within the first five years. The first year in business is even more dire – around 60% of all restaurants fail in the first year of operation. Food trucks offer a common-sense way for hospitality entrepreneurs to manage financial risk, test food concepts and gain valuable operating experience while avoiding the higher costs of a brick-and-mortar restaurant.
Pierre said she and her team are currently interviewing prospective food trucks that may want to set up as part of her food truck village, sampling food and menus and making sure any new operators she brings on board are in compliance with any applicable food industry and parish regulations.
“Right now, we’re meeting with food truck owners; we want to make sure that we bring a variety of food options for our residents,” Pierre commented.
Pierre said she did not yet have a firm number of food truck operators that will set up at her site, given the operation was in its planning stages. The timeline as to when the food truck village will begin to operate was also currently tentative, with the process to take likely a few months to arrange.
For more details on Pierre and her business, the Louisiana Business Center, visit the site’s Facebook page online.
This would be nice, I live within walking distance.