CARLSBAD -- There's no mistaking Hot Dog on a Stick employees: the striped shirt, matching tall hat and solid blue or red shorts make it hard for them to blend into a crowd. But making them recognizable is exactly the point, said Fredrica Thode, the company's president and chief operating officer.

The company, which is celebrating its 60th anniversary this month, has built brand recognition on its showy employee uniform and the simplicity of its menu of hot dogs or cheese on a stick, fresh lemonade and fries. Thode compares the store experience with a miniature show.

"It's a theater setting: When you look at the store, what you see is the bright lights," she said. "You see the girls dressed up in their uniforms, you see them cooking up in front and holding the hot dogs up high after dipping them in the batter."

To celebrate its anniversary, Hot Dog on a Stick is giving customers a free hot dog between 5 and 9 p.m. Tuesday.

Beyond building its customer loyalty, the company has created strong employee allegiance through its employee stock ownership program. The company, which is based in Carlsbad, is 100 percent employee-owned, according to Thode.

The employee-ownership plan came about when the company's founder, Dave Barham, died in 1991. In his will, he gave his employees the option to buy the company, which he had owned singly, from his estate.

They took the opportunity and began implementing a buy-in plan that took seven years to complete. The plan used the company's own profits to purchase stock from the trust, according to Thode.

Now, an employee who has worked at Hot Dog on a Stick for at least one year, has worked at least 1,000 hours and is at least 19 years old is eligible for the employee-ownership plan. Under the plan, the company buys company stock for the employee each year. The amount of money available to buy stock for a particular employee is based on a percentage of the employee's income. The employees themselves pay no money to acquire the stock.

The Employee Retirement Income Security Act regulates the plan, and employees may only cash in on their stocks upon leaving their jobs or retiring from the company.

Currently, roughly half of the company's approximately 1,300 employees are stockholders. Roughly 85 percent of the company's employees are female, and 92 percent of the business is owned by people younger than 25. Not a single employee owns more than 3 percent at this time, Thode said. Hot Dog on a Stick, which has 110 stores in 17 states, is projected to gross $40 million this year.

Thode, who started working for Hot Dog on a Stick in 1980 as a receptionist, said that although Barham did not turn over ownership of the company until after his death, he "built this company with an ownership culture," making the employees feel like they were an integral part in the company.

True employee ownership has furthered that original feeling within the company, Thode said. "Employee ownership drives total trust, dignity, responsibility and commitment," she said. "Every employee knows they have a stake in the business."

Contact freelance writer Kathryn Gillick at kgillick@gmail.com.