By: Henry Eden ~Guest Writer~

Whether you heard them advertising out of a car window while driving through campus or you were drawn by their sausage- themed tweets, one thing is for sure, you have already heard about the newest culinary craze in Norwood. Jack Carey, Red Millerick, Scott Stratford and Alex Tilford are the force behind Xavier Hot Dogs. The four Xavier seniors residing at 1935 Cleneay opened up their lawn the past four weekends to any student looking for a fresh hot dog and some spirited conversation.

According to the four co-founders, it is an idea several years in the making. “We had always joked about making pizzas and selling slices in front of the dorms, but that never really panned out.” Millerick told the Newswire. “We were sitting around one day and started talking about it and pieces started to come together. We have a grill, and hot dogs are pretty cheap.”

The four realized it was a sustainable idea after their first night of business. “It got thrown together randomly the first weekend of classes,” co-founder Carey said of their first night of sales. “We started cooking hot dogs, and we put out our ‘$1 Dogs’ sign. We ended up selling all the hot dogs that night.” The group decided to continue selling hot dogs the next night “That was also when we introduced Twitter,” Tilford said. The group’s presence on various social media platforms has been one of the biggest contributing factors to its success. Their Twitter account, @ WienersofXavier, has amassed  close to 200 followers in its first month of existence.

The group has also received a plethora of positive feedback from local businesses. “Places like Dana’s, who everyone follows have been re-tweeting almost everything we post,” Carey said. Millerick added that Stones, a favorite spot of many Xavier students, has also taken kindly to the group’s online presence. And these businesses are not the only ones taking notice. “One kid told us that his economics professor told him that we had the best business model he’d ever seen,” Carey said. “Another one said that his marketing professor had talked about how good our Twitter page was.”

The word has not just been limited to the university. Several Xavier alumni have also reached out to the group. “I received a text from the vice president of the Reds’ ticket office, where I worked this summer, and even he is telling us that he loves our idea and our marketing,” Stratford said. The four also have plans to add a charitable aspect to their business soon. Despite their success, the roommates do not want to take themselves too seriously. “We’re having fun doing it,” Stratford said. “That’s why we keep doing it.” Xavier Hot Dogs is open for business late night on weekends.