Little kids' soda sales shut down
ST. PAUL -- Two young sisters had to can their business after authorities shut them down, saying the girls can't peddle pop without a permit.
Mikaela Ziegler, 7, and her 4-year-old sister, Annika, were selling refreshments Wednesday near the State Fairgrounds when an inspector from the city's Office of License Inspections and Environmental Protection arrived.
"She said, 'You can't sell pop unless you have a license,"' Mikaela said.
Their outraged father, Dr. Richard Ziegler, called City Hall for an explanation. He was told that St. Paul is cracking down on unauthorized merchants and that his daughters would be free to hawk their drinks once they obtained a $60 license.
"Is there anything sacred anymore?" he asked. "We're not running a business here. This is fun and games for kids. I think (Mikaela's) netted, after paying me, a whole $13. "It's laughable and it's tragic."
But Licensing Director Janeen Rosas said Mikaela was violating a St. Paul city code.
Rosas said the city has received more complaints than ever this year, although she said no one had griped about the enterprising Ziegler sisters.
"If someone were to get ill from one of these products, with a license we're more able to track them back," she said. "And at the fair it's an equity issue. Allowing some people to sell without licenses gives them an unfair advantage over others."
Mikaela had been in business for four days, offering an assortment of packaged lemonade, orange juice, water and soda.
"I don't think that was right," she said of the city's action. "You should be able to just sell stuff without having something that you don't know you're supposed to be having."
