The power of social media is undeniable! A Houston man named Billy By took to Twitter on Saturday, March 9, to share that his dad, who he did not name, was upset that no one was coming into his newly opened doughnut shop in Missouri City, Texas.
“My dad is sad cause no one is coming to his new donut shop,” tweeted By, who later shared that the store first opened its doors on Thursday, March 7. Along with his tweet, By also included a picture of the desolate exterior of the store, which was adorned with a celebratory “Grand Opening” banner.
However, within hours of sharing that tweet, the tides quickly began to turn for the family-owned business, which is called Billy’s Donuts. By’s initial tweet quickly amassed more than 279,000 retweets and upwards of 604,000 likes, which meant it didn’t take long before eager and hungry customers began pouring into the establishment and waiting on a line that stretched out the door.
In fact, the local business quickly drew praise on social media for its delicious doughnuts, croissants and kolaches – puffy dough pastries that typically encase fruit or cheese. “Now these kolaches … bomb af or what?” tweeted one visitor. Added another: “The boudin kolaches are SO good.”
Even those who don’t typically like breakfast pastries were eager to see Billy’s Donuts succeed. As one social media user put it: “Awwww I don’t even like donuts but I would definitely buy a few.”
By Sunday, March 10, By shared the doughnut shop (happily) had nothing left to sell. “Just wanted to update yall! We completely sold out of donuts and kolaches!” he wrote. “You are all amazing. I can’t thank everyone enough for coming out and supporting local businesses. This means so much to my family.”
Furthermore, Billy’s Donuts was still riding high on Monday, March 11, when employees from Twitter paid the shop a visit and bought out all of the baked goods to give to customers. “Get ’em while they’re hot!” the social media app tweeted from inside the store.
Apparently the Twitter visit was enough to generate even more customers, as one social media user shared people were “streaming in” to Billy’s Donuts for the second day in a row.
As By tweeted on Monday, “WE ARE SOLD OUT TODAY!”
