Ticket that Truck! Round 2

By Minna A in Food on Jan 12, 2011 7:40PM

Even with most food trucks in their winter hibernation, shopkeepers haven't stopped turning up the heat on both food trucks and guerrilla marketers on wheels, calling again for stricter rules and regulations on all of their operations.

Since Michigan Avenue and the surrounding streets are one of the rare areas that still get foot traffic in these winter months, food trucks and marketing trucks tend to fill the curb spaces there to open shop. In a Sun-Times article earlier this week, John Chikow, president and CEO of the Greater North Michigan Avenue Association, claimed the area has been overrun by mobile businesses illegally hawking their wares, and creating dangerous traffic and pedestrians blocks.

Claims Chikow, “they’re not pulling into a legal spot, paying the meter and doing their thing. Their strategy is to park in no-parking zones, cab stands and adjacent to crosswalks and either display their products or attempt to sell. We have a major problem with traffic flow and pedestrian safety.”

According to Chikow, food trucks and guerrilla marketing trucks are not welcome in the Michigan Ave. area, as they are detrimental to the stores where shopkeepers have invested in their facilities, pay taxes, hire employees and produce advertising.

Receiving the most complaints is cupcake truck Flirty Cupcakes, which has been tracked and ticketed multiple times before. Does this dis-encourage them? Apparently not, as they have stops scheduled in the Michigan Ave. area throughout this week.