When Doug Guller, CEO of ATX Brands, discovered the abandoned Texas hamlet of Bankersmith on Craigslist, he didn’t just see a dilapidated former railroad town. He saw the next frontier for his hospitality business. Guller is renaming the town Bikinis, after his Austin-based chain of “sports breastaurants,” which now has more than 10 locations. “There can’t be a better way to put Bikinis on the map… Literally,” Guller said in a press release quoted by the International Business Times. Bankersmith was founded in 1913 when a railroad ran through the region. At its apogee in the 1920s, it had a population of 50. After WWII, the population hovered around 20, according to the town’s website, and continued to decline. By fall 2012, Guller plans to remake the two-acre, one-building town as a tourist and event destination. “We want it to be a big playground,” Guller told Eater Austin.
Mayor for Life: 6 Uses for That Town You Purchased on eBay
A spate of North American ghost towns have made their way onto the auction block lately, enticing global buyers with cash to burn with the promise of their very own zip codes. But what might an intrepid buyer do with such an out-of-the-way acquisition? Here are six ideas.
1. Rename it for Your Chain of “Breastaurants”
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Town You Purchased on eBay
- 1. Rename it for Your Chain of “Breastaurants”
- 2. Create a Religious Enclave—and Be Very, Very Mysterious About it
- 3. Sell Your Imported Wares…Albeit from the Middle of Nowhere
- 4. Develop a Blockbuster Tourist Destination
- 5. Create a Colony of Do-Gooders Dedicated to Eradicating Disease, Malnutrition and Poverty
- 6. Get Rid of It—Before It Ruins Your Life