RESOLVING THE LEDGER
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As thousands of fans flocked to the green on No. 2 at TPC Twin Cities to catch a glimpse of Scottie Scheffler’s birdie attempt on Sunday afternoon at 3M Open, the Nguyen family stood in their backyard — ready for business.
The next 15 minutes or so were extremely busy as a standing line of customers formed waiting to buy refreshments with scorching temperatures sitting in the mid 90s in Blaine.
The prices being offered by the Nguyen family were a steal compared to elsewhere on the course, just like they always are. You can get a bag of chips for $1, a bottle of water or a can of soda for $2 or a bottle of Gatorade for $3.
“We live right here so we’ve been doing it for a long time,” Angelica Nguyen said. “We have friends that always ask when we’re doing it, because they love coming to help us.”
It has become something of an annual event for the Nguyen family as they have run the small side hustle out of their backyard nearly every summer for as long as they can remember. They have lived on No. 2 at TPC Twin Cities in Blaine since 2008, so they actually used to sell during the 3M Championship on the Champions Tour. They have become even more invested since the inception of the 3M Open on the PGA Tour.
“We were all really little when we started,” Jayden Nguyen said. “We’ve kind of grown up doing it.”
On this particular occasion, Angelica Nguyen, the eldest sibling, Jayden Nguyen, the middle, and Timothy Nguyen, the youngest, teamed up with their cousins, Miranda Vu and William Vu, keeping passerbys satiated for the duration of the 3M Open. They had a white table set up across the fence with coolers holding all the goods.
“Our lovely mom has been running in and out of the house,” Angelica Nguyen said. “She helps make sure the coolers are always full.”
The logistics have slowly become second nature for the Nguyen family.
“Our basement currently looks like a Costco,” Angelica Nguyen said with a laugh. “We usually do a big run a few weeks before to get a base, then we do a small run after every round to restock on anything we need.”
The menu has steadily expanded over the past decade or so. They started out selling mostly water, soda and energy drinks. They have since added different bags of chips, candy, and, most recently, ice cream sandwiches.
“Those have been super popular,” Jayden Nguyen said. “Especially this weekend with the hot weather.”
The most money the Nguyen family estimates it’s made in a single 3M Open in the past is roughly $2,000. They expected be well beyond that this year, thanks in large part to Scheffler and the record crowds he’s attracted.
“You can definitely feel his presence out there,” Jayden Nguyen said. “Usually there are a few big groups that that are all about the same size. It feels like this year everybody is pretty much here to see him.”
That was evident in the final round of the 3M Open as the gallery following Scheffler once again proved to be good for business. It has been difficult for the Nguyen family to keep track of how much money has rolled in.
“We really don’t deal with the books,” Jayden Nguyen said with a laugh. “Our parents figure out the math.”
The revenue is then split evenly among those who worked.
“It’s funny because we started doing it to save for college, and now most of us are in college,” Angelica Nguyen said. “We always have a lot of fun doing it.”
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