WOODVILLE – An online retailer that now operates under the Amazon umbrella, and is known for its fun, irreverent style of marketing, is coming to Woodville on Saturday, or, as it might deem the town for a day, “WOOTville.”
Woot (stylized online as “WOOT!”) began on July 12, 2004, as a website founded by Matt Rutledge, an electronics wholesaler. Rutledge based the internet startup in his hometown of Carrollton, and originally offered a single discounted product each day, usually a computer gadget.
The business model, and the site’s approach to marketing, caught on, and in 2010, the company agreed to an Amazon acquisition. It now offers a variety of products, and for its 22nd birthday, Woot picked Woodville to throw a birthday party.
The event coincides with the monthly Second Saturday event on the square, downtown, and organizers of that event encourage everyone to bring a chair, a cooler full of favorite beverages and a mindset to come celebrate.
This Saturday, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., there will be live music from Chip Darby, vendors and all the usual Second Saturday fun, plus the presence of Woot, and according to Woodville mayor Amy Bythewood, some of the fun customs that have been a part of the company, including its “boxes of crap.”
Woot, from its inception, began offering a blind grab bag called “random crap,” but for the celebration, it will have “boxes of crap” to offer attendees, and according to Bythewood, those boxes might contain anything from a smartwatch to a random, single shoe.
Woot will also offer T-shirts and coupons for merchandise, plus, according to the site’s FAQ on the event, Bythewood is allowing the company to rename the city to “Wootville” for the day.
The company is also paying for luxury porta-potty facilities for the event, as well as overtime expenditures for law enforcement to work it.
