In April 2012, Pham Dinh Nguyen, a Vietnamese businessman, bought the town of Buford, Wyoming at auction for US$900,000. If you’re wondering why the sum is so small, 1) it’s in Wyoming and 2) the population of the town is 1. But the town’s non-existent population and middle-of-nowhere location aren’t stopping Nguyen from dreaming big.
You see, he plans to put Buford on the map as “a large and potential market for Vietnamese goods."
The first step in the town’s transformation from outpost to showroom will be to change the name to PhinDeli,
“It’s the combination of phin, the Vietnamese name for the small metal French drip filter used for brewing coffee, and deli, abbreviation for delicious. As of September 3, when the town will be renamed, we will serve coffee free-of-charge for visitors,” Said Nguyen.
Nguyen, who plans to sell 250g and 500g packs of coffee, sees this venture as the first step to popularizing Vietnamese coffee in the US, with the ultimate goal of supplying mega-marts like Wal-Mart and Cosco. This may prove to be an expensive proposition given that out of all US states, Wyoming outranks only Alaska in population density.
Buford, known as the nation’s smallest town, consists of a gas station and convenience store, a 1905 schoolhouse, a cabin, a garage and a three-bedroom house. Originally built during the construction of the transcontinental railroad, the town sported a population of 2,000 before the railroad was rerouted.
The town was sold by former mayor, Don Sammons, who had lived there alone for the past 20 years and ironically served as a U.S. Army radio operator during the American War.
You gotta love that Nguyen is dreaming big, but this seems like one of the riskier ways to get American’s hooked on Vietnamese coffee.
