The owner of viral sensation Binley Mega Chippy, Kamal Gandhi, has responded to his store blowing up on social media, and revealed the effect that the internet has had on business since it first went viral.
TikTok has seen a number of random things go viral over the years, but nothing has been more unexpected than the rise of Binley Mega Chippy.
If you’ve been on TikTok throughout May and June, you have probably at some point stumbled across a video set to the catchy Binley Mega Chippy jingle, with people showing pictures and videos of the ordinary chip shop based in Coventry in the UK.
Users went viral making memes about the store, and soon enough people were visiting from around the world to see what all the fuss was about.
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The shop is owned by 70-year-old Kamal Gandhi, and he told the Guardian what he thinks of the sudden viral popularity.
“We’re really grateful, it’s a gift from God really,” he said. He later responded to the continuous stream of customers that are showing up at the store, saying: “even now, all these customers, I’ve never seen them before, they’re all new.”
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Due to the sudden influx of attention, Gandhi had to hire and train four new staff members to help deal with the rush, and with the enormous queues of eager fans that were forming down the street.
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He reported that at the peak of its popularity, the queue for Binley Mega Chippy was as long as two hours, and that sales have gone through the roof since it blew up on TikTok.
“We’re just an ordinary fish and chip shop. All I want is to keep my customers happy no matter where they’ve come from,” he went on to add.
Although it seems like Binley Mega Chippy’s virality is beginning to calm down, people are still posting about it on a daily basis, just going to show how powerful TikTok can be.