Teen's social media post saves family's bakery on the brink of closing after Hurricane Harvey

Jackie Garza asked people to come to La Casa, which took a hit after Harvey.

ByABC News
January 11, 2018, 12:36 AM

— -- Sometime after Hurricane Harvey hit in August, the owner of La Casa Bakery and Café in Houston found himself in dire straits.

The shop had survived the floods but business had tanked. Trinidad Garza, the baker and owner, told his wife that he was preparing to sell it.

His daughter Jackie Garza, 18, distraught that her father, a longtime baker, planned to get rid of the family business, came up with an idea.

On Dec. 6, Jackie Garza posted a video online of Trinidad Garza in the bakery and shared it on Twitter, telling people about her father's situation.

"He's been thinking of closing, but I can't let that happen," she said.

She implored those on Twitter to spread the word about La Casa Bakery and Café. Just one retweet, she said, “could bring in a potential customer.”

PHOTO: Jackie Garza and her family said business has been booming since she posted a video to Twitter Dec. 6, attracting more customers and fans to their bakery.
Jackie Garza and her family said business has been booming since she posted a video to Twitter Dec. 6, attracting more customers and fans to their bakery.

The result of that social media post was overwhelming.

"By the time, I was at work, I was like '1,000 [retweets]?" Jackie Garza told ABC News affiliate KTRK-TV. "I didn't think it was going to grow."

But grow it did. There were thousands of retweets and soon people were lined up outside the bakery, even posting their trips to Twitter.

"I heard that the store owner was thinking about closing it down," Chantile Hermosilla, a first-time customer, said. "I was like, 'Oh, I kinda don't want that to happen.'"

Trinidad Garza, in his 70s, said he was incredibly grateful -– and a little surprised.

"I didn’t even know to use it," he said about Twitter.

For now, he doesn't have to worry about learning –- his daughter Jackie Garza has created several social media accounts for the bakery.

The Garzas are busy keeping up with the demand at their bakery and happy to be back at work.

ABC News' affiliate KTRK-TV contributed to this story.

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