{"id":2536,"date":"2025-07-17T10:32:22","date_gmt":"2025-07-17T10:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/2536\/"},"modified":"2025-07-17T10:32:22","modified_gmt":"2025-07-17T10:32:22","slug":"ypsilanti-11-year-old-uses-lemonade-stand-to-learn-entrepreneurship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/2536\/","title":{"rendered":"Ypsilanti 11-year-old uses lemonade stand to learn entrepreneurship"},"content":{"rendered":"

Addison Robinson started her lemonade stand at age six.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had this huge stand,\u201d Robinson said. \u201cIt was decorated with an Addi\u2019s ice cold lemonade stand and it had a roof shaped like a house.\u201d <\/p>\n

The pop-up stand was built by her great-uncle, and she would bring it around to different parking lots. After she gained some attention selling lemonade outside a UAW local, she moved to selling as a vendor at festivals. Her first festival<\/a> was Parkridge SummerFest in 2021. Over the last five years, Robinson has become a staple at Ann Arbor\u2019s festivals. She was even upgraded to the adults section at Ann Arbor\u2019s African American Festival<\/a> after her lemonade sold so well in previous years, according to Event Organizer Teesha Montague.<\/p>\n

Now 11, Robinson sells lemonade at five to six festivals each summer in the Ann Arbor area and she sells out every time. <\/p>\n

She saves the money for college. She doesn\u2019t know which one yet, but she knows she wants it to be an HBCU.<\/p>\n

As a part of the process, Robinson\u2019s mother Alexandria Lewis and her grandmother, Andrea Copeland-Lewis have taught her how to do her own banking. Now every Monday after the event, her grandmother drives her to the bank and sits down while she waits for Addison to finish up. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve been learning the value of money and how important it is to save,\u201d Robinson said. <\/p>\n

Copeland-Lewis and Lewis also support her in running the business. They said it can get busy and stressful at times.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s worth every minute,\u201d Copeland-Lewis said. \u201cTeaching her entrepreneurship, for one, but also that she can pretty much do anything that she puts her mind to.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before each festival, the three of them spend six hours making and packaging the lemonade. They designed custom pink-white and yellow labels for the plastic lemonade pouches, and they have shirts to match. Robinson sells five flavors of lemonade: regular, strawberry, blue raspberry, pineapple and mango. At minimum, they bring 300 packages of lemonade with them and they sell them at $5 each. <\/p>\n

\"Addison\u2019sPackaged lemonades at Addison Robinson\u2019s lemonade stand outside her home in Ypsilanti Township on Thursday, July 3 2025.<\/p>\n

Copeland has been selling flavored pre-packaged lemonade since age 6, and manages a business complete with her own bank account.Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com<\/p>\n

Robinson said the most rewarding part of the business is the support people give her. <\/p>\n

\u201c[It is rewarding] having really deep conversations with customers because they want me to do a good job and keep doing this,\u201d Robinson said.<\/p>\n

Addison has three festivals on the calendar for the rest of the summer: RowFest<\/a> (July 12-20 at Ford Lake in Ypsilanti), the Rosie the Riveter Craft Show<\/a> (July 26 at North Bay Park in Ypsilanti), and Parkridge Summer Fest<\/a> (August 23, Parkridge Park in Ypsilanti)<\/p>\n

\"Addison\u2019sAddison Robinson, 11, poses at her portable lemonade stand outside her home in Ypsilanti Township on Thursday, July 3 2025.<\/p>\n

Copeland has been selling flavored pre-packaged lemonade since age 6, and manages a business complete with her own bank account.Jacob Hamilton | MLive.com<\/p>\n

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