Chicken Farm Story Garners Plenty of Attention

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio –If Harvey Lutz ever wants to change careers, he should consider marketing.

Business Journal Publisher Andrea Wood’s story about Lutz’s plans to build a chicken farm on the land TJX Companies considered for a $160 million distribution center got a huge reaction from readers at BusinessJournalDaily.com and The Business Journal’s social media platforms.

On Monday, Lutz staked out the dimensions of the two barns he plans to build and spread manure on the land closest to the houses where many residents who oppose the project live. On Tuesday, he told his story to Wood standing in front of a large pile of manure he left as a visual.

Lutz had planned to sell the land to TJX, but if opposing residents get their way and halt the project, Monday’s stunt will be just of preview of what’s to come he said.

“We gave them a little taste of what it’s going to smell like,” Lutz said with a smile.

His sense of humor wasn’t lost on The Business Journal’s readers.

“The chickens have come home to roost. This is fantastic,” tweeted one reader.

“Karma!” read a comment from another that was posted to Facebook.

One reader posted a meme of actor Shia LaBeouf emphatically telling Lutz to “do it.”

“Now….THAT is hilarious,” posted another reader.

By 3 p.m., Wednesday traffic at BusinessJournalDaily.com rose more than 300% above average. By 9 p.m. it had risen 500%.

Lutz’s chicken farm is by far the most popular story published at the site this month. As of this posting, it received more than four times as many views as the next most popular story – of which TJX is also the subject.

More than half of the story’s readers came to the website from Facebook, where it was shared 215 times and reached more than 26,000 people.

It also received 504 likes, 276 comments, and 155 Haha emojis.

Using little more than a shovel and his wits, Lutz generated a media buzz many professional marketers would’ve killed for, and that’s no pile of bull – or in this case, chicken.

Copyright 2024 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.