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Deals on Wheels You can afford a retail business! Successful kiosk and cart entrepreneurs reveal how.

By Julie B. Davis

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

They're in malls, on street corners, at parks and outsideoffice buildings--entrepreneurs who've made their dreams ofretailing a reality by opening cart or kiosk businesses. They selleverything from hot dogs to sunglasses, from men's ties toT-shirts. And they do it with overhead costs that are far less thanthose of full-fledged stores.

For many entrepreneurs who dream of breaking into retail,opening a shop is cost-prohibitive--but a cart or kiosk is aprofitable possibility. Just ask Wally Rizza. In November 1995,Rizza, then 21, spent $25,000 to launch Shades 2000 Inc., asunglasses cart at the Irvine Spectrum Entertainment Center inIrvine, California. Within a year, he raked in $184,000 in sales.Today, Rizza has three sunglasses carts, a watch cart and a jewelrycart, and he expects to gross about $500,000 this year. "Acart business can be very profitable and is economically withinreach for many people," says Rizza, now 24.

"If you have the right product and a good location,it's not uncommon to make $2,500 to $5,000 per week [with acart]," says Bruce Stockberger, owner of Stockberger MarketingAssociates, a North Palm Beach, Florida, small-business marketingfirm specializing in cart, kiosk and Internet marketing. "Youcan buy a cart for as little as $11,000 and make $1,200 to $1,500per day." Kiosks--larger, enclosed, more permanent units inwhich the operator sits or stands--can pull in $20,000 to $60,000per week, Stockberger says.