It’s not unusual for Richard and Kimberly Avirett to get calls from their regulars after hours. The Mimmy’s Dog House owners have a loyal following of customers who seek out their roaming hot dog cart multiple times per week.
Starting the first week of 2017, the daily dog hunt will come to a close. The Aviretts will host a soft opening of Mimmy’s Dog House in Tampa’s University Mall food court on Wednesday, Jan. 4.
It’s a dream come true for the couple, who has seen their business grow rapidly since first opening Mimmy’s with the desire to put family first.
Dog-Gone Good Decisions
Before there was Mimmy’s, there was mail. Lots of it.
Kimberly Avirett was working for the post office as a mail carrier, a job that took her away from seeing her family as much as she would like.
“I have two small kids,” Kimberly Avirett said. “I didn’t get to see them much.”
The Aviretts, fans of hot dogs themselves, were avid attendees of local festivals. Seeing the food vendors and the fun that came along with it encouraged them to take their dreams to a cart.
“I was at work one day, and I went to my boss and put my two weeks in,” Kimberly Avirett said. “I said, ‘This idea better work now,’ and we went and bought the cart.”
It didn’t take long for the Aviretts to hit their sweet spot. After debuting the cart on street corner in Lithia and another spot in Ft. Lonesome, the couple finally found their hot dog haven at the corner of Lithia and Pinecrest. The Aviretts sold Nathan’s Hot Dogs and Georgia-smoked sausage, later adding in fresh-squeezed lemonade. Soon, they saw their business turn into a community hangout.
“We made a killing,” Kimberly Avirett said.
Plant City residents are likely familiar with the hot dog stand, as the couple frequently caters parties and events throughout the Winter Strawberry Capital of the World.
“We’ve catered at CityPointe Church,” Richard Avirett said. “They’ve probably been our biggest cheerleaders.”
Now, the couple has plans to help Mimmy’s reach all of Tampa Bay.
After the soft opening at University Mall on Jan. 4, Mimmy’s Dog House will officially be open in the food court on Friday, Jan. 6. As they reach more customers, the couple plans to hire a few, part-time employees, enabling them to spend more time with their families.
They’ll still use the hot dog cart for parties and events, and on the weekends.
They hope to attract many of their customers from the nearby University of South Florida campus.
“It’s college kid food,” Richard Avirett said.”We’re wanting to serve young people. We’ll be closed on Sundays. We want to model the company off of Chick-fil-A standards. We spend time with our family and go to church on Sundays.”
“We definitely would like to get some help,” Kimberly Avirett said. “Our goal is family time.”
In addition to hot dogs — which are served steamed — and sausages, the food court station will also offer wraps and salads to customers.
But even after selling hot dogs day in and day out, the party food is still a favorite for the Aviretts.
“We still eat them about every day,” Richard Avirett said.
Contact Emily Topper at etopper@plantcityobserver.com.