Grant Hoffpauir was in the third grade when he decided that one day he would have his very own "snack shack."
The inspiration came when his mom, Anje, would take him to play at John Hayden Park in their hometown of Wynne. Grant would work up a thirst and an appetite after a hard day of playing in the park, but there wasn't a spot nearby where he could grab a bottle of cold water or a tasty snack.
"He started saying, 'When I get older, I'm going to have Grant's Snack Shack, because ... we need bottled water and nachos at the park" Anje says.
Last month the 18-year-old Grant, who has Down syndrome, opened Grant's Snack Shack in a small trailer. Yes, there are nachos on the menu, along with hot dogs, chili dogs, snow cones, lemonade, pickles and more.
He's noncommital at first when asked if he has a favorite among his offerings.
"It's hard to pick just one," he says before adding that he is a fan of the chili dogs. Nachos, he says, are usually a best-seller.
"We wanted to start with something small," Anje says. They bought the trailer from a dealer in Alabama, and Grant's dad, Kyle, hauls it behind his pickup. Since opening, the Snack Shack has fed people at church events, school functions and other gatherings.
Grant has a background in food service. He recently graduated from Wynne High School, where he took culinary classes and has worked part-time for several years at Johnson's Fish House and Diner in Wynne.
"[The culinary classes] really helped him learn about the things he needs to do," Anje says, "and the training at Johnson's has been good in learning how to do food service in general."
The Snack Shack is definitely a family business. While Anje and Kyle were on a vacation recently, Grant's older siblings, Tyler and Jamie, helped him at an event in Jonesboro, where they served up 150 hot dogs. And Grant is sometimes called upon to do a bit of glad-handing to promote the brand.
"He does a lot of PR because people just want to meet him and talk to him, so he spends a lot of time outside the trailer, too," Kyle says. "It's been a good experience."
On May 16, Grant was featured in a segment on Memphis NBC affiliate Action News 5 as he served up treats for students during an event at Wynne Junior High. The piece was picked up by other stations, including KAIT8 in Jonesboro, and Anje says they've seen online that it's been shown in Texas.
She says it would be nice to eventually find a fixed location where Grant could run his Snack Shack more independently.
"We haven't had time to think about putting it in a permanent location yet, but I think that's coming in the future. This has been his goal for many years now, and he's living his dream."
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