ANN ARBOR, MI — With 10 years of serving up veggie burgers and soy-based shakes under her belt, Debra Levantrosser is ready to move on to bigger and better things.
Levantrosser owns Shimmy Shack, a vegan and gluten-free food truck serving the Ann Arbor and Detroit areas, and recently put out a call for buyers for the business.
“I feel that for the last 10 years, I’ve been changing the way people eat, and I feel that it’s time for me to move on and change the way people think,” Levantrosser said.
Levantrosser is asking for at least $275,000 for Shimmy Shack’s truck, branding and recipes. The sale does not include Shimmy’s Cupboard, a food pantry serving vegan and gluten-free food. The buyer will, however, inherit the truck’s current schedule, which includes bookings for Art in the Park in downtown Plymouth and Ann Arbor’s Sonic Lunch.
“The wheels are turning, literally and figuratively,” Levantrosser said.
Shimmy Shack serves a variety of vegan and gluten-free foods, including a soy-based coney dog, a falafel pita, nachos and cookies. Although the truck is based in Plymouth, it serves the Ann Arbor and Detroit areas, including appearances at Ann Arbor’s Sonic Lunch and Wiard’s Orchard in Ypsilanti.
The truck has sold more than 60,000 of its original recipe veggie burgers and was voted into the top 10 food trucks in the country in 2015, 2017, 2019 and 2021.
An ideal buyer would have a passion for gluten-free and vegan food, Levantrosser said.
“I think the new owner is within my network already somewhere because of the level of passion you have to have in order to put yourself out there and own a business like this,” Levantrosser said.
Although she said she will miss interacting with customers, she feels a “really strong calling to move into the education and awareness space,” Levantrosser said. She wants to focus on groups that do not typically have access to education on veganism or would not typically think about the origin of food, with a particular emphasis on how the agricultural industry treats animals.
“I don’t think people really understand how we get milk,” Levantrosser said.
There are currently no plans to close the truck if a buyer does not appear, Levantrosser added.
“The future is for sure more vegan than it is now,” she said.
Find Shimmy Shack online, on social media or by phone at 734-228-5990.
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