Transient Businesses: A Street Vendor Typology and Exploratory Study

"Street vending, "perhaps the oldest form of retail activity, is a business category type that may epitomize the essence of entrepreneurship but has received scant attention in academic journals. Street vending is often viewed negatively as a subsistence-type business. Such a view does not fully capture the diversity of business types that are classified as "street vendors. " The authors propose a new term, "transient business, " which is more descriptive of a greater variety of businesses classified as street vendors. A 2x2 matrix is presented that identifies a typology of four distinctly different street vendor models. To support these conceptual categories, data are presented from interviews with 124 transient businesses operating at an annual motorcycle rally in the plains states. Findings include observations regarding the number of days per year vendors operate and the relative mobility of their businesses. INTRODUCTION "Street vending," perhaps the oldest form of retail activity, is a business category type that may epitomize the essence of entrepreneurship but has received scant attention in most business academic journals. Often considered important to well-functioning local and regional economies, (Dasgupta, 2003; Fritsch, 2003; Gladstone & Fainstein, 2001; MacKenzie, 1992), street vending is the subject of numerous sociological investigations (e.g., Nova, 2003; Pena, 1999; Reuveni, 2002; Stroller, 2003; Tienda & Raijman, 2000). The common sociological perception of street vendors is generally negative. However, examining the street vendor demographic from a business paradigm exposes this group as uniquely entrepreneurial and diverse in their approach. Certain factors distinguish such vendors from other retailers. Street vendors operate with minimal overhead. They are capable of folding their businesses and disappearing without a trace literally overnight, although many operate in the same location for months or even years. Advertising is typically limited to signs visible to passersby and through word-of-mouth. At times, these vendors may create a desire for a luxury, novelty, or impulse purchase item. Are street vendors entrepreneurs? Entrepreneurship textbooks often characterize entrepreneurship as an act of identifying an opportunity, coordinating resources, and risk-taking in order to take advantage of market opportunities. Given such characterizations, early street vendors may rightfully be considered the first practicing entrepreneurs. Many academic articles investigating street vendors are essentially case studies or qualitative analyses documenting street vendor behavior in third world or developing countries, primarily as a subsistence business (Dasgupta, 2003; Mexico Business Monthly, 1998; Nova, 2003; Pena, 1999; Ritter, 1998). Sociological studies generally focus on a number of social ills related to street vendors and their lives, including social isolation, violence and deviant behavior (Duneier, 2002; Lee, Maume, & Ousey, 2003), and characterize these individuals as among the lowest and least consistently paid workers (Lacey & Crosby, 2003; Population Reports, 2002). Other sociological studies focus on street vendors who produce counterfeit goods and occupy the non-tax-paying underground economy (Cantor, 2003; Corporate Counsel Magazine, 2003; Greenberg, Topol, Sherman, & Cooperman, 1980; Holland, 2002; New York Law Journal, 2003). Consequently, the term "street vendor" as typically used seems applicable to a marginalized subset of society, engaging recidivists, street urchins, miscreants, and other down-and-out "second-class citizens" trying to eke out a literal hand-to-mouth existence through gray- or blackmarket economy business activities. The illegitimate reputation of such businesses may also be exacerbated by the perception that street vendors keep sporadic hours, entirely at the pleasure of the operator. Ultimately, these businesses allow their operators to survive, typically with the most meager of incomes. …