MANCHESTER, NH – When Marc Dube posted on social media Aug. 6 that he’ had’d slung his last hot dog after 15 years, his regulars at Dube Dogs were steamed.
Not to suggest they were angry. It’s just that they relish the delicious dogs (and jambalaya and wraps) Dube dishes up alongside his No. 2 with the unforgettable name – Flower Wood.
To be frank, it was a shock to everyone – even Dube, in some ways.
“I just wasn’t having fun anymore,” says Dube, who agreed to an exit interview a few days after the announcement.
Short version of our interview:
Me: You said Dube Dogs was done “for the season.” Did you mean the “season of your life” or just 2024?
Dube: We’ll see; I’m leaving the door open.
It’s not that simple, of course.
Spoiler alert: There will be a Last Hot Dog Hurrah on Thursday Aug. 15 at Arms Park during Dube Dogs usual hours (11 a.m. -3 p.m.) He says Erik Lesniak of Manchester Economic Development Office convinced him that it was the right thing to do, so it’s happening. More on that in a minute.
Just as no hot dog is complete without the fixins – onions, relish, mustard, kraut, chili, cheese – or ketchup (if you must) – the reason Dube got started – and is stepping away from the hot dog cart – is as complicated as a wiener with the works.
How it started
Dube’s day job was – and will remain – selling kitchen cabinetry, a job that for most of these past 15 years has taken him all over New England doing thousands of cabinets for multi-unit buildings.
Hot dogs entered his world one day back in 2009 when he met a guy.
“He was a wholesale meat operator and he moved into the office next door to mine in the millyard. He had a freezer in the back of his pickup truck type thing, and he would drive around the neighborhoods selling meat. He was a little shady, to be honest,” says Dube.
One day the guy tells Dube there’s a spot for sale by the Mill Girl statue for a vendor.
“He says ‘I have a hot dog cart and I’m thinking about opening it up.’ And then he asked me if it was something I might be interested in, out of the clear blue,” Dube says. “I went home and slept on it.”
Not that he’d ever entertained such an idea before, but it tickled his fancy. He checked with the city to make sure there really was a vendor space available and then, relying only his minimal past experience in the restaurant biz, he became a hot dog vendor.
Five years ago he and Wood teamed up. Dube was using the commisary kitchen at Firefly Bistro back then and Wood was working there at the time. She became a customer of the hot dog cart and, the following season when there was an opening, Wood filled it. She’s the best employee he’s ever had, bar none.
She’s had the time of her life.
“I really love working out here but with the opportunity to kind of get kicked out the door unexpectedly, I see this as a huge opportunity for growth,” says Wood. “I actually got yoga teachers certified in April and I’ve been teaching and I found this as an opportunity to just really burst the door open on that and see where that avenue can lead me.”
She believes it’s Dube’s genuine interest in everyone that is key to his success, although he counters that she is, in fact, the secret weapon – and refers to her as Flower Power.
“He knows everyone’s name, he knows what they like – he’s not just selling them a hot dog; he really cares about their lives,” Wood says.
And as if on queue at least four different people spot him on the sidewalk over the course of an hour to ask him why his cart’s been MIA. He greets each one by name, including Molly the dog, and tells them he’s called it quits.
Over the years Wood says she’s learned a lot about hot dogs and street vending but mostly, she’s learned a lot about herself.
“Marc’s given me the opportunity to grow my skills and my personal development,” Wood says. “He can be a very difficult person to work with at times, and it’s given me an opportunity to not point the finger at him, but look inward and reflect and be like, okay, you know, what can I do to work better with Marc? And I’ve had a lot of growth through that and I think the last two years have been our best two years of working together.”
Dube doesn’t disagree.
“Yeah, I can be kind of a dink – can’t we all sometimes?” Dube says, leading him to elaborate a bit more on pulling the plug. It boils down to having some “dink moments” over the past month, which coincided with the heat wave and, ultimately, the realization that life’s too short to do something that doesn’t bring you joy like it once did.
The thing is that Dube Dogs has never been more busy, or successful. That’s the dream of every guy with a hot dog cart, but in some ways also what contributed to his decision to shut things down.
“At the beginning when Marc first rolled out his cart it was like a little side hobby, it was easy,” Wood says.
“But as the years went on it just got busier – which is great – but I think it’s like the cabinet business is busy, the food business is busy and he’s like ‘I’m just one person and I’m spreading myself far too thin,’ and it came to a point where he was just like, you know what? I need to take care of myself, and my health is my wealth, and he just made a quick decision – but I think a very positive one,” Wood says.
She sees her departure from Dube Dogs as a universal kick in the pants.
“I feel like this job has been a little bit of a hiding hole, and like I don’t have to apply myself out in the real world because I’m doing this every day, and so now I feel like it’s time for me to just kind of spread my wings and and see what life has to offer me,” Wood said. “Marc’s really been very helpful and compassionate because I actually struggled with chronic issues with my back for most of my adult life, so having the opportunity to work somewhere with someone that was so considerate and truly kind in my worst moments has been incredible.”
After the announcent on Aug. 6 Dube said he read through all the comments on Facebook, which led him to post again the next day. It was a meme with a quote by Forest Gump from the scene where, after “running and running,” he stops, and says something simple and profound – and something Dube can relate to: “I’m pretty tired. I think I’ll go home now.”
“I’m not a real social media guy. But I was curious and interested in the comments that people had about, you know, ‘take care of yourself.’ Yeah, they were concerned – which is nice, but that’s why I had to make the clarification post,” Dube sayd. “And I thought the Forest Gump quote was perfect because I am pretty tired, I’ll be honest with you. I am relieved in the morning when I wake up that I don’t have to everything that I’ve done for the last 15 years. As much joy and satisfaction as that has given me, this was the right decision for me.”
Aug. 15: Last Hot Dog Hurrah – and beyond
Dube is looking forward to saying a proper goodbye to his many loyal customers on Thursday – 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. to keep things consistent, or until the food runs out, he says.
“It might be chaos out here, I think it will be a lot of people wanting to wish us well,” Dube says.
He’s bringing in some help to sling the dogs so he can be in the moment.
“I want to talk to folks. That’s what I would like to do. It’s really bittersweet and I’m really coming to grips with it now that the reality of the situation is settling in,” Dube says. “It’s hard to build something up and then close the book on it. And if I’m ever going to make a return, I’d want to sort of reinvent myself,” punctuating the comment with a cryptic exclamation point.
In the big picture, he wonders if he did it because people needed hot dogs, or was it something more.
“In the beginning, I thought I wanted to make money doing this but when I realized I wasn’t going to make money, I had to make a decision about how I was going to approach the business,” Dube says. “And that’s what has kept me going.”
Adds Wood, “Marc’s created a true community here. People don’t just come out because they’re hungry; they come out for the camaraderie and the community.”