How Can One Threads Text Post Put a Queue Outside a Small Shop?

On a drizzly weekday, the queue outside Tai Bo Cafe (大寶冰室) in Yuen Long stretched past five or six shopfronts. The owner only found out his shop had gone viral when his daughter showed him a post on Threads. According to a December 2025 report by The Standard, all ten tables were full, and the reporter waited 45 minutes for a seat. Neighbours said the queues had only started two weeks earlier. The owner said that once seated, customers still had to wait about half an hour for the HK$54 plate of meat patty rice, and there often wasn’t enough rice to go round.

It all started with one over-the-top line on Threads: a user hailed this plate of meat patty rice as the best in all of Asia. HK01 reported that a male user had praised the dish in a reply on Threads. Another HK01 report said the same user had already mentioned the shop on his own account in April 2025, and from May had left the same line of praise again and again under posts that had nothing to do with it. The report linked this to the way the platform recommends posts.

Our team went through six Threads cases reported by Hong Kong media in 2025 and 2026, to see what Threads marketing actually does for small shops. Not one of the six proves that a single text post brought a queue on its own. In only two did the owner or a family member post on Threads. In three, the reports only say the post came from a user or a passer-by. In the last one, the report doesn’t say who posted. And it wasn’t always a text post that started things. In two of the cases, what spread on Threads was a photo of a queue, and the queue was already there before the post appeared. In the Prince Edward case, the report even says the queue started with a recommendation on Xiaohongshu from entertainer Wong Cho-lam.

Even if you’ve never opened a Threads account, someone may already be writing about your shop. If you’re wondering where to start with small business marketing, let’s first look at who wrote the posts in these six cases and why they spread. Then we’ll go through five things you can get ready right now.

Six Hong Kong cases: who wrote the posts?

Let’s start with the two cases where the post came from the owner’s side.

According to a Sing Tao Headline report in late March 2025, the daughter of the owner of 銀津點心茶餐廳, a dim sum cha chaan teng on Fa Yuen Street in Mong Kok, posted on Threads asking for help for her father’s shop. In the post, she said newly opened eateries nearby were drawing customers away, and the shop was hidden behind a minibus stop. In her interview, she also said business had fallen sharply since the pandemic. As the report relays it, the post first explained the shop’s difficulties and asked people for support, then introduced the dishes, and finally offered Threads users 10% off and invited them to try the food and share their thoughts. The post quickly drew the “attention” of more than 790,000 users, and many who came to try the food praised the dim sum and fried items. Speaking to the reporter, she said she was surprised that so many people offered their support. Explain the difficulty first, then give a reason to visit, and readers know exactly how they can help.

At 麵包空間, a bakery in Oi Man Estate, Ho Man Tin, Ms Chan, who runs the shop, went on Threads herself in 2025 to ask people what kind of event they’d like the shop to hold. After gathering ideas, she launched “HK$30, 20 seconds, grab all the bread you can”: pay HK$30, and keep whatever you can pick up with the tongs in 20 seconds. According to HK01, few people signed up at first. It only took off once participants shared their experience on Threads. When sign-ups opened for the fourth event, all 80 places were gone within 5 minutes. On the day, a long queue formed outside, and participants usually walked away with more than HK$100 worth of bread. Ms Chan admits every event loses money, but believes the publicity is worth it, and she hopes people from other districts will come and give it a try. The event itself is the content, and participants will write it up for you.

In the next three cases, the reports only say the posts came from users or passers-by, with no mention of the shop being involved.

Back to Tai Bo Cafe in Yuen Long. A follow-up report by The Standard in January 2026 also traced the craze to one user who kept repeating the same promotional line. The report added that some people online had started to question whether the queues were just an illusion created by a trend.

On 2 November 2025, a passer-by posted a photo on Threads of the queue outside a Cantonese pastry shop on Poplar Street in Prince Edward. About 30 people were in line at the time. According to The Standard, the queue started with a recommendation on Xiaohongshu from entertainer Wong Cho-lam, who described a chenpi (dried tangerine peel) flavoured treat as costing only HK$6. In this case, what spread on Threads was a photo of the queue, but what started the queue was a recommendation on another platform.

The queue at the Yuen Long branch of 享樂烘焙, a bakery, was also photographed by users on Threads. According to Sing Tao Headline, users shared what the queue looked like on a weekend afternoon. About 30 people appear in the photo, and the queue wound around several corners, at one point blocking a passage in the shopping mall. People were queuing for Dubai pistachio chocolate mochi and crispy black sesame glutinous rice balls, and the report linked the craze to the recent Dubai chocolate trend. Once the photos spread, online reviews were mixed. Some felt it wasn’t worth the wait, while others raved about the texture. A craze doesn’t only bring good reviews.

Finally, Zero One in Central. A September 2026 report by Time Out Hong Kong said the café’s new Banoffee Pie and a black sesame Basque cheesecake, available only for its opening, went viral on Threads and turned the café into a spot people queued for. What spread were two desserts people could name.

Here’s something you could try: search for your shop’s name on Threads today, and see what people are writing about you.

Posts that spread on Threads have three things in common

First, what spreads is usually one thing people can name. A plate of meat patty rice, a Dubai pistachio chocolate mochi, a 20-second bread-grabbing challenge: after reading, people know what to order, or what to do, when they get there. Before you write a post, ask yourself: once customers have read it, will they know what to order?

Second, the post reads like a person talking. As the reports describe it, the 銀津 post was written by the daughter as a member of the family. It explained why business had dropped and asked people directly for support. The praise for Tai Bo Cafe, on the other hand, was so over the top it was almost a joke, and HK01 said its style was modelled on an online copypasta praising City University of Hong Kong. The two sound nothing alike, but both come from one person’s voice. Meta’s official tips for creators also say content that sparks conversation is more likely to be recommended, and humorous content generally gets more views. Once you’ve written a post, read it out loud. If it sounds like a flyer, rewrite it.

Finally, someone else always keeps it going. Once a post is out, it spreads through other people’s replies and shares: participants at 麵包空間 wrote up their own hauls, and the praise for Tai Bo Cafe was pasted under one post after another. According to Meta’s Transparency Center, Threads ranking takes into account the replies and likes a post receives, including replies to replies. Meta’s creator tips also point out that replies account for almost half of all views on Threads. After you post, remember to come back and see who’s replying to you.

The queue is here. Can your shop handle it?

Once the queues appeared, the owner of Tai Bo Cafe felt more mixed about it than you might expect. According to The Standard, he described that time as very stressful, and said his staff were worn out. He hoped the craze would pass, so his regulars could keep enjoying meat patty rice of the same standard.

Ms Chan at 麵包空間, on the other hand, accepts losing money on every event in exchange for bringing in people from other districts.

These two shops are a reminder that the crowd a post brings may turn up before you’re ready, and may not stay for good. How many people in the queue come back matters more than how long the queue is. We go into this in more detail in Chasing Views Can Cost You Money.

Threads marketing for small shops: five things to prepare in advance

1. Open an account in the owner’s own voice

Don’t wait until business drops to start on Threads. Open an account in the shop’s name, written by the owner, and post about what you actually do every day, like “Started braising the beef brisket at 6 this morning. First pot’s ready at 9.” Meta’s creator tips suggest posting at least 2 to 5 times a week, a figure that comes from Meta’s internal analysis of creators worldwide in the first half of 2024. Instagram head Adam Mosseri also said in November 2024 that Threads ranking would show more from accounts people follow, and recommend less from accounts they don’t. The followers you build up day to day are more likely to see your response when a craze hits.

2. Tell a true story, then give customers a reason to visit

You can borrow the order 銀津 used above: start with the difficulty, then introduce the dishes, and finish with an offer. The story doesn’t have to be a call for help. It could be the first month after the second generation takes over, a dish whose recipe you reworked three times, or a veteran chef’s last week before retiring. Write about things that really happened. The more specific you are about dates, portions and street names, the easier it is for readers to picture themselves sitting in your shop. End with a question, like “Which dim sum should we add next month?”, so readers have something to reply to.

3. When someone writes about you, reply first

Besides posting yourself, keep an eye on how others write about you: search Threads regularly for your shop’s name, your signature dish and your street. When you see someone sharing, reply as the owner. Say thanks and add a useful detail, like “Thanks for coming all this way! We’re closed on Mondays, and weekdays after 3pm are quieter.” The 2026 engagement report from social media management tool Buffer found that on Threads, posts where the author replied to comments had an estimated 42% more engagement, the highest of the six platforms it looked at. Buffer also notes that this is only a correlation, and doesn’t prove replying is the cause.

Know where to draw the line when replying, though. The praise for Tai Bo Cafe was started by a user, who pasted the same line under unrelated posts. If a shop did that itself, it could easily come across as spam. Mosseri has publicly acknowledged that there’s more and more engagement bait on Threads, said Meta is working on it, and pointed out that not every comment or reply is a good thing.

4. Plan ahead for queues

Crowds can arrive very suddenly. Decide in advance how many you’ll sell each day, and how you’ll let people in the queue know when you’ve sold out. For example, put “Signature dish limited to 60 portions a day, while stocks last” in your posts and at the door, and post a short update on Threads each day. Your regulars deserve some care in advance too. Set aside 10 portions a day for regulars to reserve, so however many new customers turn up, your regulars won’t make a wasted trip.

5. Let words tell the story, and photos make you recognisable

The same Buffer report shows that on Threads, video posts had a median engagement rate (likes, reposts, replies and quotes as a share of reach) of 5.55%, images 4.55%, and text-only posts just 2.79%. Meta’s creator tips, meanwhile, say every post should have text, and that photos and videos with text perform better than those without. So you don’t have to choose between words and photos. Tell the story in words, then add a close-up of your signature dish, so customers recognise it when they get to your door.

What if you don’t have time to post often?

Small shop owners have to open up, restock and look after customers, so posting often isn’t easy. Handing the writing to someone else doesn’t mean losing the owner’s voice. If you want content with warmth and a brand with attitude, Try.Eat! Social can plan and run it for you, from brand positioning and tone of voice to every single post. You approve everything before it goes out. The platforms we run include Threads. Take a look at our case studies to see how each brand found its own voice.

If you’d like to invite food influencers whose style is close to yours to come and try your food, you can also use our influencer matching platform, or take a look at our restaurant marketing plans.

FAQ

Is Threads marketing right for small shops?

Yes. A Threads post can be just a few lines of text, and an owner can write one on their phone. Start by posting regularly, writing in your own voice, and replying when others share about you.

I have no budget for small business promotion. Can I start with Threads?

Yes. Posting itself costs nothing. Search for your shop’s name on Threads first, reply to customers who’ve already written about you, then follow Meta’s creator tips and post 2 to 5 times a week in the owner’s voice.

How many people use Threads in Hong Kong?

We couldn’t find a figure published by Meta for active Threads users in Hong Kong. DataReportal’s 2026 Hong Kong report says Threads ads could reach about 1.55 million people at the end of 2025, equal to 21.0% of the population. This is the estimated audience size from Meta’s ad tools, and DataReportal notes that Meta’s ad reach figures are not the same as active users. Globally, Meta said in June 2026 that Threads had reached 500 million monthly active users (Reuters report via The Star).

Want your shop’s Threads posts to sound like you talking? Talk to us.

Cover photo: Viralyft / Unsplash