Clyde’s Cupcakes reclaims prime Exeter spot amid food truck dispute
EXETER — The competition between two food truck owners for a coveted spot by the bandstand in downtown Exeter that sparked an online firestorm is over.
The Select Board voted Monday night to award the space to Clyde's Cupcakes after Jukebox Diner owners Mike and Stephanie Oliveira decided to withdraw their bid.
The Oliveiras had won the coveted spot by outbidding Clyde's following a request for proposals from the town of Exeter. However, after announcing they were bringing their diner-on-wheels to the downtown, they received blowback from Clyde Bullen, owner of Clyde's Cupcakes. Bullen had alleged in a post on social media that garnered 375 comments that the Oliveiras' truck was held to different standards than his own.
His concerns were not unfounded, according to the Select Board.
Select Board Chair Niko Papakonstantis said, according to the town's request for proposals, the downtown spot would be awarded to the “best qualified bid proposal.” He said the Jukebox Diner's application was conceptual as that truck had not been built yet when the bid was awarded.
“I look at the word ‘qualify,'” he said. “If somebody is bidding on a parking space to conduct business, with a business model that consists of a conception, I'm sorry I just don't think that's ‘qualify.'”
Town Manager Russ Dean said bids for the spot were opened on Dec. 1.
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Clyde's Cupcakes bid was $2,400 while the Jukebox Diner's was much higher at $4,000. Dean said the town awarded the spot to Jukebox Diner because it was the highest bidder.
Dean said the town had been working with the Oliveiras since December regarding the size of the truck, insurance, and other matters before moving forward with the final safety inspection by the town.
One concern brought up by Bullen was the Jukebox Diner's original plans of using propane on-site to prepare the food. Located at one of the busiest roads in town, Assistant Fire Chief Justin Pizon said propane simply would not be permitted due to the requirement that it be 10 feet from buildings and property lines.
“We would never be OK with propane downtown within a foot or two of a car parked next to you,” Pizon said.
Selectwoman Molly Cowan said had the process started earlier and the proposal was shown to the Fire Department, it would not have been accepted.
Papakonstantis said he was “bothered” by how the town interpreted the Jukebox Diner's bid as qualified when there were still questions regarding the food truck.
“We want to facilitate a process for folks that want to do business here in Exeter,” he said. “We have the responsibility to make sure that our citizens are safe.”
Clyde’s Cupcakes owner speaks out
Bullen, owner of Clyde's Cupcakes, said he went public with his disappointment not because he was “frustrated” he had lost the downtown spot. It was because he “lost to something that there was no way it could have gotten approved, period.”
“When that bid was submitted, it requested a photo of what was going there,” he said. “When I saw a photo of a truck that had a big propane cylinder on it… there's no way that truck was getting approved, period, in the state of New Hampshire or anywhere due to the fact that it had a propane tank on it and it was going to be by a parking spot.”
Having been in the downtown for over a decade, Bullen said he had listened to the town's needs over the years.
This included sizing down and only using the smallest of three trucks for the space and setting up cones around the area for customers' safety.
“I don't have to do what I do, I do it because I love it,” he said. “Downtown Exeter is not making me rich, my wife enjoys interacting with people. The main reason I go downtown is so that the young of Exeter can see that there's a different person – because some people in this town have never seen a Black person before. So I go down so I can interact with the kids.”
Jukebox Diner owners explain why they gave up space
The Oliveiras said they thought the best decision was to pull their bid and look for another spot after seeing all the comments on social media.
“Mike and I never bid on this spot maliciously to create hate and anger and don't want to start a business on that foot,” Stephanie Oliveira said. “It just didn't feel ‘right' to us to keep the spot.”
Mike Oliveira said he personally called Bullen about rescinding his bid so Clyde's could return.
“And hung up the phone with nothing but love and support for one another,” Oliveira said.
The Jukebox Diner, a 1950s dinerthemed food truck, is still launching this spring, the Oliveiras said Tuesday, possibly by May. They will now look for another location and have received offers from individuals.
“We really feel that things happen for a reason,” Stephanie Oliveira said. “We're just trusting that there will be other opportunities that lead us in the direction that we want.”