Here’s how a locally owned independent hardware store in Dallas, Texas piggybacked off President Bush leaving office and generated a ton of national publicity when the Associated Press picked up the story.
Elliott’s Hardware in Dallas invited former President George W. Bush to spend his retirement working as a part-time greeter at its Maple Avenue store. It mailed an invitation to Bush and also bought a full-page ad on Page 7B of Thursday’s Dallas Morning News.
“Our greeters are a legendary part of our customer service,” said Kyle Walters, Elliott’s Hardware president & CEO. “And we are offering the position to Mr. Bush in all sincerity. We think it would be a great fit for him as he settles back into life in Dallas.”
Job perks include:
–A flexible part-time schedule (to allow travel to Crawford)
–An opportunity to keep up on his people skills
–A seven-mile commute between the store and his new home
–Ample parking (including space for his security detail)
–Employee discount (for any projects Mrs. Bush may have on the
“Honey-Do” list)
–The chance to wear a company name tag with a big red W on it.
Elliott’s said it would be willing to let Bush try out the position for a day to see how he likes it before committing.
The complete greeter letter was posted at numerous blogs and websites including The Huffington Post. Bush, who hasn’t yet moved into his new home in Dallas, intends to focus on construction of his presidential library and think tank at the nearby Southern Methodist University.
Note to Elliott’s: This story is clever enough that you could have gotten the same amount of publicity without the full-page ad.
[…] bought a few items and joked that he was looking for a job. The Associated Press, which distributed the original story to its member media outlets when the hardware store offered Bush a job, distributed […]
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