#HOT DOG ON A STICK DRIVER#

Long hairs are attached to the stalk of each pistil. Following the discharge of their pollen, the flowers wither and fall off, leaving behind the thin, bare spike extending a few inches above the late autumn and winter cattail heads familiar to so many people.įemale flowers, their ovaries elevated on miniature stalks, are packed tightly together, making up the so-called cattail. The heads, when young, consist of a compact mass of male, pollen-bearing flowers composed of two to seven stamens each.īeing extremely primitive plants, these flowers have neither sepals nor petals.

Frequently the leaves of some cattails extend up to beyond the tips of the seed heads. The stiff, strap-shaped leaves had a rather waxy feel and were amazingly light in weight. Yes, it is the head of the plant that is named the tail! And would you believe that there can be as many as two million seeds packed into that interesting form? Roy collected one entire six-foot-tall plant one day and brought it home to dissect all the parts.

#HOT DOG ON A STICK DRIVER#

I remember when Roy and I lived in the upper range light at The Ridges, more than one car would stop in fall and the driver would get out, look nervously in all directions for anyone nearby, dash to the edge of the ditch to cut a handful of ramrod stiff cattail heads, then scoot back to the car with his “prize” and speed away. That promoted good conditions for the cattails to grow. We had a very wet spring with the heavy snows of April and lots of rain in May (5.25 inches) so marshes, streams and roadside ditches had plenty of moisture. Once the company identifies what needs to change, he said, it could be expensive to make those changes across the company and its franchisees.The wide brown section is made up of pistillate flowers and the narrow upper part has the staminate flowers, which will be blown off in autumn, leaving a naked thin stalk. “But when you go through an event like Chapter 11, it takes a considerable amount of time to understand what happened and to correct for it.” “It’s a beginning,” he said of the incremental shifts announced this week. The firm is also testing drive-thru locations in Utah.Īnalyst Gordon said he believes bigger changes are necessary before Hot Dog on a Stick is back on a path to success.

New menu items might include more dipping sauces and protein options beyond the turkey and beef dogs already available.ĭull still believes in the power of the mall food court, he said, but the company is focusing on less expensive malls and markets for future growth. His goal is to capitalize on all of that while updating the menu, uniforms and look of the restaurants. “The uniforms, the stripes, the hat, it’s all very iconic.”Ĭustomers also really appreciate that the lemonade is made by hand and the hot dogs are dipped and fried fresh for each order, he said. “What we’ve found is the brand is extremely powerful and it really has a place in pop culture,” Dull said. Meanwhile, he said, GFG is researching and holding focus groups with customers to figure out what Hot Dog on a Stick is doing that works, and what needs to be changed as it expands its footprint beyond the West Coast. GFG chief executive Chris Dull said he expects to open between 10 and 12 new franchise stores this calendar year, while remodeling and potentially relocating some of the existing 78 corporate and 14 franchise locations.

Hot dog on a stick