The city of Longview, Texas, is a Located off Interstate 20, a little over a hundred miles east of Dallas. It’s a town of about 70,000 people, and lately a lot of them have been talking about what is going on at a local business called Don’s Fly Thru Beer Barn.
You see, Don had a problem. His business requires folks to sit in their car and drive through a long garage-like building where customers can buy beer without getting out of their car. But when traffic got backed up a bit, people were getting impatient and driving off – and not buying any of Don’s beer.
Don must have sat down and thought about what he learned at Disney World. Now those folks have a system. If you’ve been there you know that stagnant lines for rides and other attractions are made more bearable by TV monitors with things to watch, and even sketch artists and other acts that distract the people in crowds while they are in line. Disney rule: if you provide entertainment for people in line they aren’t quite as ornery about the time it is taking.
So Don put in a hot tub. A real nice one, by the look of the pictures. Then he stuck some girls in the tub so now the folks waiting in line would have somebody to talk to. Or at least look at, if they were shy about that type of thing.
Now this is strictly a G-rated hot tub, there are no naked women, just very attractive ladies in bathing suits, straw hats, and big, friendly smiles. The ladies are known as “Don’s Darlings”, and they are causing quite a stir around town, as well as improving Don’s business. He says the hot tub gimmick is making him a lot of money.
A local TV station even ran a video feature on the Fly Thru Beer Barn, and of course the local paper is happy to provide some pictures.
If you’re interested in seeing Don’s new marketing idea in action, we have links to the hot tub video and pictures on our website.
Don Talley is the very creative owner of the Beer Barn. He says that most of the women are single moms, and he’s helping them out by offering them honest work. A local newspaper ad said he was offering health benefits and even cosmetic surgery. They work for eight hours a day, and Don seems to have no problem finding women who are willing to staff the tub. And no wonder – how many jobs can you find where you get paid to sit all day in a hot tub in the sun, working on your tan and and flirting with men?
As it turns out, sex does sell — or at least it keeps male customers around long enough to buy some beer. But this is not a hot party tub, nobody is nude, and most folks in the area consider it pretty harmless. You’d probably see more skin at a swimming pool.
Ever the entrepreneur, Don says that sometimes his female Fly Thru Beer Barn customers will also get a treat — once a week he’ll give the women a day off and staff the tub with hunky men.