Yours truly got to spend the front part of the holiday as a guest of my son, who treated for a cabin and entertainment in Pigeon Forge, which natives say is mostly owned by Country music legend, Dolly Parton.
She’s known for her sass, service and superior entertainment.
“Dolly” hit a home run business-wise as all of her dinner-theater showings in town were pretty much sold-out. It was the first time I had been to a dinner and a show since the Fort Gordon Dinner Theater about 10 years ago, which was well executed.
Our party all got tickets to the 5 P.M showing of the Hatfields and the Mccoys, family Christmas edition of the on-going “feud”.
Because I am a numbers guy, I did the Math. There were 700 seats x 3 shows each day. Tickets average about $45 for Adults/Children and when you throw in some “touristy” add-ons like family photos and gift shop items, Dolly can generate revenues of up to $100,000 per day at this one venue and she has many!
Service-wise Dolly’s team was amazing.
A few of the performers from the Hatfields and the McCoys were out in the lobby interacting with show attendees, and one took a liking to my daughter and grand-daughter and took photos and danced with them!
At 5 P.M, servers managed to bring heaping family-style buckets of fried chicken, mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, coleslaw, drinks and dessert and gave us enough time to eat and get the plates cleared by 5:30PM show time.
That’s the way the cookie crumbles
Last Sunday after church, I bumped into the Akers family at Willie Jewel’s Barbecue on the Riverwatch Parkway. They couldn’t be nicer and they are excited about launching their new franchise, “Crumbl Cookies” at Mullins Colony in Evans. Josh Heath profiled them on November 15th.
He’s served our country in the Army and is a full-time E.R doctor locally and she’s taken care of their two daughters, and with them both over 10, is now ready to oversee the operations and eventually bring in their children to help.
Their bakery will take up most all of their square footage, so they’ll be looking for an office to handle their cookie business.
In case you missed Josh Heath’s story on the Akers’ voyage into business, click here.