Hot, buttery popcorn is a time-honored treat, evoking excitement in children and nostalgia in adults. If you’ve enjoyed the salty snack at a local festival, bar or hospital cafeteria, chances are it was provided by Seekonk’s Popcorn Guys.
Co-owners and friends Michele Cross and Lisa Patterson, who met while working at the Grist Mill, bought Popcorn Guys as a turn-key business in 2007. With the help of their sole full-time employee, Lisa’s husband Rob Patterson, and part-time help from other family members, Popcorn Guys provides popcorn machines to hundreds of venues.
They sell new and used popcorn machines to corporations, hospitals, schools, bars, restaurants, and college cafeterias “from California to Maine.” Locally, they provide popcorn machines to Seekonk Speedway, Twin River Casino and Water Wizz on Cape Cod. Folks can also rent the machines for parties or other events, such as the Bristol 4th of July Festival.
In addition to their larger sales and rentals, Popcorn Guys has an online store that sells popcorn, seasonings, machines and more.
Popcorn Guys buys their concession equipment from C. Cretor’s & Company in Chicago, a 125 year-old business that invented the world’s first commercial popcorn machine. Their popcorn is purchased from Weaver, a company in Indiana that, according to a September 2006 article in Indiana Monthly, supplies 30 percent of the world’s popcorn.
Cross says the fluctuating economy has affected the business a little bit. Places like auto dealerships, which in the past gave popcorn away for free, have cut back. At the same time, she says corporations such as EMC have increased their accounts. She’s also learned that businesses which don’t keep the popcorn machine in sight of customers or pre-pop the corn don’t do well.
“People don’t want to see popcorn in a bag already popped,” Cross says. “They like to see it and smell it.”
Rob Patterson, who came to Popcorn Guys after working 17 years in the health care industry, loves working with the machines and delivering to clients. The only downside of the job, he says, is the occasional crank phone call.
“The side of the van says we provide popcorn and fun. Sometimes we get calls from people asking where they can get some fun,” he says with a laugh.
Co-owners and friends Michele Cross and Lisa Patterson, who met while working at the Grist Mill, bought Popcorn Guys as a turn-key business in 2007. With the help of their sole full-time employee, Lisa’s husband Rob Patterson, and part-time help from other family members, Popcorn Guys provides popcorn machines to hundreds of venues.
They sell new and used popcorn machines to corporations, hospitals, schools, bars, restaurants, and college cafeterias “from California to Maine.” Locally, they provide popcorn machines to Seekonk Speedway, Twin River Casino and Water Wizz on Cape Cod. Folks can also rent the machines for parties or other events, such as the Bristol 4th of July Festival.
Popcorn Guys buys their concession equipment from C. Cretor’s & Company in Chicago, a 125 year-old business that invented the world’s first commercial popcorn machine. Their popcorn is purchased from Weaver, a company in Indiana that, according to a September 2006 article in Indiana Monthly, supplies 30 percent of the world’s popcorn.
Cross says the fluctuating economy has affected the business a little bit. Places like auto dealerships, which in the past gave popcorn away for free, have cut back. At the same time, she says corporations such as EMC have increased their accounts. She’s also learned that businesses which don’t keep the popcorn machine in sight of customers or pre-pop the corn don’t do well.
“People don’t want to see popcorn in a bag already popped,” Cross says. “They like to see it and smell it.”
Rob Patterson, who came to Popcorn Guys after working 17 years in the health care industry, loves working with the machines and delivering to clients. The only downside of the job, he says, is the occasional crank phone call.
“The side of the van says we provide popcorn and fun. Sometimes we get calls from people asking where they can get some fun,” he says with a laugh.
