What’s Your Line?

I was visiting Chinatown with my friend Ruth recently.  The day was gorgeous.  Sun, warm and no wind.  Our parking karma worked for us.  We got a spot right on Grant Street.  We ask around and quickly found Dim Sum and then walked the bustling street of colorful flags, street musicians and curio shops.

We had no plan of attack and quickly found ourselves opening our wallet to buy fanny packs, silks bags and pillow covers, a wok, and tea.  By the way, a tea tasting should not be missed if you visit.  We got well rested from our tea tasting and walked the final stretch of shops when we noticed a long line forming across the street.

Ruth and I didn’t want to miss anything so we crossed the street and went to the end of the line to find out what was going on.  We asked the couple in front of us why they were standing in line and much to our surprise, they shrugged and said they didn’t know!  They thought there was some kind of bakery down the street, but they weren’t sure and were asking the people in front of them.

Egg Custard Tart

Then two young women came up behind us and I turned and ask them if they knew what the line was for and they shrugged and said they had no idea.  So no one really knew what they were doing in a line.  The line was was growing faster than it was moving.  Still very few knew why they were getting in a line.

Finally a nice looking guy in line said he heard a bakery was down the street that had an incredible egg custard ta

rt.  Then the couple in front of us found out the the Barbeque Pork Buns were the big draw.  And someone else said just about anything is delicious.

The line moved slow enough for us to get acquainted with the people around us and enjoy our brief collision of waiting in line for something we knew nothing about.

As we got closer, people were coming out of a very tiny bakery with pink bakery boxes.  They were also munching on something they bought.

The bakery was the Golden Gate Bakery.  Women were selling pastries faster than they could bring them out of the oven.  Can there be anything better than a freshly baked sweet?  We were salivating by the time we got to the door.

You had to know what you wanted before you got in and the only display was a small window filled with trays of sweets.  It wasn’t appealing or attractive.  In fact, it was kind of disgusting.  But we got through the door and a woman yelled “Next!” from the end of a very crowded counter.  A fresh tray of egg custard tarts came out just as we ordered and before we knew it, it was in the bag and we were on our way out where the line was just as long as when we started the journey.

I thought how powerful a line can be for marketing.  If you could get 20 friends to stand in line and get the line started, you could probably sell just about anything all day.  But for our day in Chinatown, it was worth the half hour wait of being ridiculous and meeting other curious tourists that didn’t want to miss anything in this very precious section of San Francisco we call Chinatown.

Yum!

 

 

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