Where to set up a lemonade stand (and where not to)

The three kinds of spot

• Your own yard or drivewayPrivate property. Yours. Nobody to ask. The only question is whether people pass by.
• Somebody else’s propertyA church lot, a feed store, a shop’s porch, a neighbor’s corner lot. Ask the owner. Most are glad to say yes, and some will send customers.
• A public placeA park, a sidewalk, the ball fields, a market. The state law is on your side, but the place has its own rules. Ask whoever runs it, or city hall, first.

What makes a spot good

1. People already going pastA through street, the walk to the fields on game night, the road into town, the market on Saturday. A stand does not create traffic; it catches it.
2. Somewhere to stopCars need a place to pull over. Walkers need a sidewalk. A stand on a blind curve with no shoulder gets waves, not sales.
3. Shade, or the chance to make someAn afternoon in full sun ends early. A tree, a porch, or an umbrella keeps the stand open.
4. A corner for the second signIf the stand is down the street, the arrow sign at the corner is what brings people.

Where not to

Right at a busy intersection, where nobody can stop. The shoulder of a highway. A spot you had to climb a fence to get to. Anywhere a grown-up would not be comfortable sitting all afternoon. And not in front of a business that sells drinks, unless they invited you.

Asking

The whole ask is one sentence: “Could my kid set up a lemonade stand here on Saturday morning?” Have the kid ask, with the grown-up right there. The answer is almost always yes, and now the place knows your name.