Max Snacks: 10-year-old N.S. entrepreneur gifted new cart for hotdog stand

Max Clark’s busy summer is about to get a whole lot busier.

The ten-year-old entrepreneur from Amherst, N.S., is the owner of Max Snacks – a lemonade and hotdog stand.

Max started selling hot chocolate in the winter when he was eight.

After that, it was chips, cookies and other sweets.

Now, he’s fully licensed by the town and he’s even completed a food handlers course.

He’s well-known in Amherst for his customer service and business savvy.

“It’s doing great. It’s really doing good. The other week I hired a few people,” said Max.

With his money from the sales, Max invested in a pair of hotdog rollers and things have taken off.

“At certain times it’s a lot busier than others. So around 12 p.m. it’ll be pretty busy and then it will start to slow down from like 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. and then as soon as it hits 5 p.m. hits, it’s just brace yourself,” said Max.

The one thing Max was missing was a cart.

A family friend who owns a welding shop saw a business connector plan Max did for a youth competition in Amherst and decided to help him with his idea.

Sonny Terrio, owner of Terrio’s Welding Fabrication and Repair, dropped off a brand-new, custom-made hotdog and lemonade stand just before lunchtime Thursday.

“I love it. It’s amazing,” said Max. “The extra storage and the canopy is just great touches, and don’t even get me started on the logo.”

Max Clark, 10, is pictured with his father Mike and family friend Sonny Terrio.

According to Max’s father Mike, when Sonny learned of his son’s desire for a cart he spoke up right away and offered his help.

“Max and him cut some steel together. It went about a month or so and we were asking Sonny, ‘What do we owe you?’ and he said, ‘We’ll discuss that later.’ I had no idea he was going to donate this to Max’s stand. We’re so grateful,” said Mike.

The cart is worth close to $3,000, but Sonny decided to give it to the young businessman for free.

“It was something that I was passionate about once he brought the idea to us and we said yeah let’s go ahead and do it,” said Sonny. “If I had something like that in my day when I was younger, I know I would have been really excited. So once we heard the idea we said ‘Hell yeah. Let’s go ahead and make him a real nice one.’”

Mike wasn’t sure how Max would react when his new cart was backed into his driveway.

“It was unbelievable. I was worried he was going to faint. We were on high alert. He was incredibly thankful and I am too. Way to go Sonny. Thank you,” said Mike.

Max’s business really blossomed a few years ago when he invested $67 of his own money and he went shopping for supplies with his mother.

“He was a little upset that he had to spend his own money, but that first lemonade stand, he doubled it,” said Mike.

Max usually sets up shop at the bottom of his driveway, but now he’s ready to take his business on the road.

The Clark’s plan is to bring the cart to a few markets over the summer.

Mike is proud of his son and said his setup is not your average lemonade stand.

“We got endorsed by the town. We got all the permits, the food safety courses. We went above and beyond to make sure we kept it completely legal,” said Mike.

The new Max Snacks cart will be at family night at Havelock Park in downtown Amherst on Thursday, Aug. 1

“Thank you so much Sonny,” said Max. “I could not ask for a better cart.”

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