Shelby Yarchin | Shelbyyarchin@gmail.com
Social media has always had a large part in advertising for companies, and small business ventures. The industry has changed drastically from printed adverts on the side of milk canisters and eye-catching billboards littering the sides of interstates. Recently, the app Tik Tok, has taken the world by storm with more than 1 billion downloads worldwide and that kind of audience gives entrepreneurs the perfect, free, medium to advertise.
Laramie is no exception to the new rules of advertising. Kenzie and Bryce Francois are no strangers to the magical powers of Tik Tok and viral videos. The married couple have had many business ventures dipping into the arts, and their love of animals. The most recent one involves a shop that was opened right here in Laramie this past June.
After Bryce threw together a video about the process of making their custom resin tags gained traction on the app, their lives were changed forever. “It was December 22nd, the tuesday before Christmas, the last day of work. I went out to the parking lot and had a couple of videos on my phone of reinforcement rings in our resin tags. I just threw it together, and by the time I got home it had 25k views on tiktok.” Bryce stated.
Over the next six days the video would climb the ladder with seven million views. From ad revenue and exposure, the pair made 10,000 dollars over the next six days and quit their day to day jobs that following Monday.
The BK Shop currently specializes in “Unique Products for Unique Pets” and sells anything from treats to large tennis balls that are proudly displayed in the window. But the shop started out as a venture dedicated to customized resin tags. “we kind of got our start just doing Resin pet tags, that’s kind of how we blew up, and now we’re trying to bring unique products into town for cat’s and dogs.”
Kenzie added “we want to be an alternative for people shopping on amazon. They’re specialized, and our products are stuff that we have bought and we have loved. It’s mostly small businesses coming together.”
While the BK shop is dedicated to the happy lives of pets right now, there’s nothing stopping the couple from expanding into different branches. There’s no rules. If we’re going to have a store lets sell art supplies and dog treats. I want to sell children’s books about LGBTQ+ communities, I want to sell books about Bi POC, and api people. I want to educate people and make it a fun shop where you can get a gift for your friend and a bone for your dog.”
Bryce and Kenzie plan on utilizing their new space by opening up a drive thru to service the community and their pets, but in the meantime you can catch the couple this Saturday the 3rd for their special “Puppy Tailgate” before the first Wyoming home game of the season!
“We just wanted to have an event for dogs. We have some really awesome UW stuff, and we have licensing with the University so we can actually sell the authentic steamboat stuff. So we wanted to do a little doggie tailgate! We’re going to have little burgers and a dog beer with every purchase.” Kenzie explained excitedly.
The Shop, located at 369 N 4th Street, is also offering 20% off all Wyoming Apparel.
To keep up with the daily adventures of Kenzie and Bryce, and the BK shop, you can find them on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and Youtube.