In a conversation that has been edited and condensed, three friends — Kyle, 14, Isaiah, 13, and Matt, almost 12 — share the story behind their lemonade stand at the corner of Massachusetts Avenue and Harrington Road.
How do you all know each other?
ALL: We’re all friends from Diamond [Middle School]. Kyle is going to LHS next year.
Tell us about your lemonade stand.
ISAIAH: A small cup of lemonade is $1, a large cup is $2. We also sell bags of chips. At the last stand we also sold watermelon — we actually made a lot of money on that. Kyle cut the watermelon.
MATT: This is the best spot because there’s lots of cars driving by —
KYLE: And people can park on the side over there.
MATT: We use maple syrup; I don’t know if you can taste it.
ISAIAH: We didn’t have any sugar, and we tried a few other combinations, but when we realized that [maple syrup] actually tastes good, we decided to keep doing it.
How did you get the idea to run a lemonade stand? How long have you been doing this?
MATT: I’ve always wanted to find a job and make money. I’ve sold lemonade before — not like this — but by myself. One day Isaiah was at my house and we were hanging out and I asked him, ‘what if we sold lemonade as something to do?’ And then we started selling it and Kyle joined us on the second day. We’ve been doing it for the past week; today is our fifth day selling.
How do you define success?
KYLE: Customers like our lemonade.
ISAIAH: We make money. And then we buy more ingredients. There are days when a lot of tours are coming through and it’s super sunny, so we get a lot of business.
MATT: We all split the money and then usually at 12 o’clock we go and eat lunch and then we come back and sell.
Where do you eat lunch?
MATT: Via Lago or Upper Crust.
What’s the most surprising thing that has happened running a lemonade stand?
MATT: Somebody asked us for a free cup of lemonade and we said, ‘sure,’ just trying to be nice. And then he started yelling to everybody, ‘free lemonade, free lemonade!’ At first we thought he was being mean, but then he gave us $100!
Have you had any other paying jobs before?
MATT: Not like this — just chores around the house.
Do you think you’ll do this again next summer?
MATT: Maybe, yeah.
KYLE: After I’m 16, I’m probably gonna go get a restaurant job so I can earn more.
if you weren’t doing this today, what would you be doing?
MATT: We’d probably be outside playing basketball.
KYLE: Maybe we’d go to the pool, because the town pool is right up over there.
Really? The stereotype is that you would be inside playing video games.
MATT: We’re like sporty kids and we just like playing sports and hanging out with friends more than video games. I play on two soccer teams, two basketball teams and two baseball teams.
ISAIAH: I play on three basketball teams and a baseball team.
Kyle: [Points at his Lexington Hockey t-shirt] I play hockey most of the year.
[a customer approaches the stand]
KYLE: Want some lemonade? We have a $1 cup and a $2 cup and some chips.
REPORTER: How did you find out about this lemonade stand?
CAROLYN FIORE: I walked by it yesterday. I try to walk every day, but I never carry cash with me, so when I was leaving my house today, I put money in my pocket and told myself I’m gonna stop for some lemonade.
Have there been days where you were planning to run the stand, but didn’t?
KYLE: If it’s darker and less hot, people aren’t really gonna stop for lemonade but if it’s hot, usually their windows are rolled down and then we can talk to them. Also when it’s hot, more people walk by, and we really get the runners and bikers that are sweating and want lemonade.
MATT: When it rained, we just packed up early.
How many more days do you think you’ll do this?
MATT: I’m planning on doing it the whole summer.