Economics Hot Dog Stand Competition Returns with Success

By Dinah Megibow-Taylor ’24, Marketing and Communications Department Intern

Upper School History Teacher Clark Thomson’s 12th grade Economics class hosted the annual Hot Dog Stand Competition on January 8, much anticipated after a four-year hiatus. The class made a total of around $1,040, and after expenses are paid, the remainder of profits will be donated to a local animal shelter.

The class’s first semester concluded with the ‘Supply and Demand’ unit, during which students were taught about the basics of business management. As a culminating activity for this unit, students were divided into two teams and challenged to build their own hot-dog stands, devising everything from price points to promotional advertisements in order to promote their sales. This year, hot dog stands “Heavenly Hot Dogs” and “Dog Eat Dog” set up shop outside of the Dining Hall Commons, where students gathered, eager to purchase their hot dogs.

Clark began this annual event when Moorestown Friends introduced Economics to its curriculum in the 2000s. It quickly became a popular event for Middle and Upper School students and an excellent learning opportunity for Economics students.

“The students in the class learn a lot of things they didn’t expect, like how incredibly hard it is to actually put a business plan into effect and have to then deliver a product,” said Clark.

To prepare for the day of competition, students needed to prepare a marketing plan presentation, where they detailed their intended marketing strategy, their method of supplying and making the hot dogs, and their intended audience.

“We started preparing about a month before Winter Break,” said Dog Eat Dog team member Alan Parker ’24. “We had to talk to our groups and talk about our strategies.”

Each group devised very different marketing strategies that resulted in dynamic displays. Heavenly Hot Dogs created a stand that revolved around a circus theme, while Dog Eat Dog was focused on the variety of their menu.

Concluded Alan: “Altogether, I think we had a really cool competition, and I thought it really brought us good ideas about how we could use this business knowledge in our futures.”