The Lemonade Stand
Emma Sue loved her new pink polka dot dress. But she did NOT love her black shoes. She REALLY wanted pink shoes to match and her favorite store had the perfect pair on sale this week for 2 .
Emma Sue didn't have any money. She had spent her whole allowance on pink bows and marshmallows. She was going to have to come up with a good plan to earn that if she was going to buy those shoes.
But what could she possible do?
She knew! She would have a lemonade stand!
Emma Sue had seen other neighborhood kids bring in the money this summer with the same idea. She would have five whole days to earn the money. They were on day five of a the first heat wave of summer and everyone was hot and thirsty. The timing couldn't have been better!
Emma Sue had one little problem. She didn't have any money to buy her supplies. She needed sugar and lemons. She decided she would borrow the supplies from her Mother and replace the lemonds and sugar after she had made her money.
So Monday morning, Emma sue set up her table, squeezed her lemons and mixed her first batch of lemonade. She was officially open for business.
The sun was really starting to heat things up when her first customer arrived. It was the Mailman, Mr. Smitty. He said he was thirsty that he would buy TWO glasses. At 25¢ each, Emma Sue had just made her first 50¢!
That whole morning was a steady stream of customers. Emma Sue figured if she could make a day then she would have just enough to buy those shoes Saturday morning. And my noontime she was down to her last glass of lemonade and only 25¢ shy of her goal.
Then Mrs. Martin walked up and bought her last glass.
"Thank you Emma Sue, it sure is hot today. SO HOT that I would have paid you a whole dollar for that glass!" said Mrs. Martin.
"You would have?" asked Emma Sue.
"On a day like today! Maybe even two dollars!" said Mrs. Martin as she walked away.
Well, this made Emma Sue think. Hard. If she had sold enough glasses of lemonade today at 25¢ to earn . Then she had sold 40 glasses. If she sold that many glasses tomorrow at each, then she would have enough money to go buy those shoes Tuesday afternoon!
Emma Sue was so excited she ran right inside to tell her Mother!
Emma Sue's Mother, however, did not share her exctiement. As it happens, her Mother was quite upset that Emma Sue had used ALL the lemons and ALL the sugar. Her mother was having her friends over for lunch and she was planning to make her FAMOUS Blueberry Lemonade Spritzers. Emma Sue had exactly 15 minutes to get to the corner store to replace what she had taken.
Hanging her head, Emma Sue walked to the corner store and spend on enough lemons and sugar to replace what she had taken from her Mother that morning. But as she walked out the door, she realized that if she was going to sell lemonade tomorrow, she was going to have to spend another on supplies!
That was gone from her day's profit! If Emma was going to make enough money to buy those shoes, she was going to have to earn more than she originially thought. She hadn't factored in the cost of her supplies.
The next morning, Emma Sue set up her stand, squeezed her lemons and made her first batch of lemonade. She had learned two important lessons yesterday: one, that she could sell her lemonade for a lot more than 25¢, and two, that she needed to earn more than her daily goal because she would need to purchase supplies for tomorrow out of what she earned today.
So considering this new information, Emma Sue decided to sell her lemonade for .10 a glass and hoped to make enough money to buy new supples and to put toward her new shoes. If she could earn a day for the next four days, then she would have the 2 for the shoes!
The heat wave continued to send customers to Emma Sue's stand all morning. Again, by noontime she had sold her last galss of lemonade! She had made the she was hoping for!
This had been a great day! Emma Sue cleaned up her stand and headed to the corner store for more lemons and sugar.
The morning of day three started off perfect. By 9:00 am the temperature was already up to 85°. People from all over then neighborhood were coming to buy lemonade.
Then a bad thing happened.
It started to get dark.
Dark clouds were coming in and a cool breeze was starting to blow across Emma Sue's lemonade stand. And then the worst thing happened. Rain.
It was only 10:30 and Emma Sue was only halfway to her goal of . This couldn't be happening! Who would buy lemonade in the rain?
Who? Only Mr. Grunt. Who walked away saying, "on a rainy day, this lemonade isn't worth more that a quarter."
Emma Sue was crushed. .
Now, Emma Sue was not going to give up that easy. The forecast called for another rainy day, but this time Emma Sue would be prepared. The weather forecast said the rain would come down in just as a drizzle, which means people will still be out and about and coming by her lemonade stand. She was just going to have to set the right price to intice them to buy! Maybe Mr. Grunt was right. On a wet day, lemonade isn't worth more than a quarter.
Back to 25¢ a glass. Only if she was going to make her quota she was going to have to sell all day. Even if she does sell out today, she will still only earn . Take out supplies for Friday and she will only have made a profit of .
"I hope the weather forecast is right for Friday and the hot weather returns," thought Emma Sue. But that would mean she would have to earn in ONE day.
Well, today is Friday and Emma Sue is very excited that the sun is out and it's already hot and steamy outside! She ahs figured out that in order to make the remaining she needs, she will have to sell all 80 glasses of lemonade today for .15.
She has her lemonade stand up at 7:00 am. She has squeezed her lemons and made her first pitcher. She's so anxious! She can almost picture herself wearing her new shoes on the first day of school.
As the hours go by, the temperature rises. People are coming back to Emma Sue's lemonade stand two, three, even FOUR times during the day. By the time her Dad came home from work, Emma Sue had two glasses of lemonade left to sell.
"Hello Emma Sue. Can I buy a glass or two?" said her Dad.
"Absolutely!" said Emma Sue.
As her Dad handed one of the glasses back to Emma Sue to enjoy, he told her how proud he was of her. That he watched how hard she worked this week to make her business work. Emma Sue told her father about the valuable lessons she had learned and how many times she had to change her plan!
As they finished their lemonade, Emma Sue's Dad offered to give her a ride to the store the next morning to buy her shoes. Emma Sue couldn't wait!
