By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

It was hard to say Wednesday whether two food vendors were ganging up on Marion or whether Marionites were ganging up on them.

Hurts Donuts in Wichita brought its emergency donut vehicle to Marion and parked next to Josh and Alison Tajchman’s Taco’s Food Truck at Main and Cedar Sts.

Apparently, the two food trucks were an irresistible combination, because in no time lines of hungry people stretched to the alley. People went through first one line and then the other, getting lunch and dessert.

Aaron Courtney, who with his wife Jenni, own the Wichita Hurts Donut franchise, said the visit to Marion was better than the couple expected.

“It was incredibly successful,” Courtney said. “We sold out in just under 40 minutes. That’s one of the top 10 donut deliveries we’ve done in the last year.”

It’s a common sight to see Taco’s Food Truck at that location, but it was Josh Tajchman’s idea to invite Hurts Donuts join his food truck.

“Once I caught wind that Hurts Donuts were coming to Marion and were looking for a spot, I reached out to them, business owner to business owner,” Tajchman said.

The two businesses offer different food, so having the two together was a bonus instead of competition.

“Business was better than usual,” Tajchman said. “The thing that helped us is that there was a dessert truck.”

Customers are on their lunch breaks and have a limited amount of time to get a meal, he said. It was like one-stop shopping for lunch. Tajchman said he and the owners of Hurts Donuts plan to team up for future events.

“We don’t really do desserts too much,” Tajchman said. “We have churros, but we don’t have a dessert truck to work with.”

Courtney said the couple will pack more donuts for the next Marion visit. He also said the two food trucks plan to hold joint events after the new year. He said the combination was a hit.

“Their food truck was packed,” he said. “Our food was popping and theirs was popping.”

The Courtneys own a donut store in Wichita and take their Whambulance to area towns once or twice a week. The trip to Marion was planned a few months ago when he posted on social media asking what cities the Whambulance should visit. So many people responded asking for a visit to Marion, the business planned one.

Courtney said he and Jenni purchased the Hurts Donut franchise in April and have kept busy ever since.