Free Ice Water. You can succeed by giving away free ice water. It's true... isn't truth always stranger than fiction?
Wall Drug opened for business in 1931 as the only pharmacy in the godforsaken small town of Wall South Dakota, population 326 people, 326 poor people. Wall Drug started out as a pharmacy, but after 5 years of lackluster results, the owners had epiphany - the folks driving along Route 16A might want some ice cold water on a hot day.
"...Well, now what is it that those travelers really want after driving across that hot prairie? They're thirsty. They want water. Ice cold water! Now we've got plenty of ice and water. Why don't we put up signs on the highway telling people to come here for free ice water?"So they put up some signs:
"Get a soda . . . Get a root beer . . . turn next corner . . . Just as near . . . To Highway 16 & 14. . . Free Ice Water. . . Wall Drug."
Today Wall Drug draws up to twenty thousand people on a good summer day.
The lesson: No matter where you live, you can succeed, because wherever you are, you can reach out to other people with something that they need.
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