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Son's tweet about dad's empty donut shop gets sweet reaction

Son's tweet about dad's donut shop goes viral
Son's tweet about dad's empty donut shop gets sweet reaction 01:25

When his father's donut shop in Texas didn't have a successful grand opening, Billy By tweeted about how sad it made him. That simple social media post had a sweet reaction — and drew a line around the block.

"My dad is sad cause no one is coming to his new donut shop," By wrote, sharing a photo of his dad behind the counter of his new shop.

Billy's Donut Shop in Missouri City, Texas, opened last week and the first day was a flop. But thanks to By's tweet, the second day was much different.

People were lined up out the door and donuts were flying off the shelves. By's tweet received more than 300,000 retweets — one of which came from Twitter's main account. With the word about his dad's shop spreading quickly, By also shared the address for all the people interested in stopping by. This prompted some Twitter employees to pay a visit to Billy's Dount Shop — and they bought out the whole store for all the customers, By wrote on Twitter.

After the successful day, By changed his own Twitter profile to "Billy's Donuts." The mom-and-pop store that was once empty was now a viral sensation.

"So overwhelmed by all of the support and love. Thank you all so much! My heart is full," By tweeted. The next day, he shared another update from the Billy's Donut Shop account: "We completely sold out of donuts and kolaches! You are all amazing. I can't thank everyone enough for coming out and supporting local businesses. This means so much to my family."

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Billy By helped spread the word about his dad's donut shop – and now they're consistently selling out donuts. Twitter/@BillysDonutsHTX
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