On Tuesday, hundreds of people stood in line at a dd’s Discounts store on 20th Street and Thomas Road, while dozens more waited outside the store’s doors under the watchful eye of Phoenix police officers.
The strange excitement at an unassuming discount store was the creation of YouTuber Juan Gonzalez, known as ThatWasEpic on his various social media channels. Roughly an hour earlier, at 11:50 a.m., Gonzalez told his 11 million Facebook followers that he had started a $10,000 credit at the store for shoppers.
“3 items per person. First come first serve. See you here,” Gonzalez wrote.
A police officer told Phoenix New Times the store stopped admitting shoppers 20-25 minutes after Gonzalez announced the giveaway. A woman claiming to be the store’s manager declined to answer questions.
People filed out of the store one at a time or in small groups, carrying lots of suitcases, kitchenware, clothes, shoes and even small furniture items. The giveaway was a hit, albeit a nerve-racking one.
Daisy Duarte lives near the store and, thanks to a tip from her son, took off on foot from her home just minutes after Gonzalez’s post went live. She emerged from the store almost two hours after she arrived having scored clothes, a purse and a child’s dining chair for her grandson.
“It’s good to be out because I was getting anxiety in there,” Duarte said. “There was so much people.”
A rotund man in a tracksuit who said his name was Marky Mark was jazzed about the suitcase, Curve cologne and black Reeboks he picked up in the store. He also filmed other people leaving the store with items and frequently bellowed and yipped in excitement.
Despite doors being closed shortly after Gonzalez’s announcement, a strangely ecstatic and hopeful haze lingered around the entrance as dozens of people waited outside. A Tempe woman named Rose, with a small child in a stroller, said she was waiting to see if Gonzalez might do something for her and the other people outside.
A few other Spanish-speaking women from the area who were waiting outside the store said they didn’t know about the giveaway and were just trying to shop in the store as they normally do. One jovial 78-year-old said she was just trying to buy stovetop cleaner. Yet they weren’t upset to be denied entry — one woman said Gonzalez had a “good heart.”
A Phoenix police officer said dd's Discounts closed its doors 20-25 minutes after YouTuber Juan Gonzalez announced the giveaway at the store.
TJ L'Heureux
Not the last free frenzy
The giveaway was the third in the last week organized by Gonzalez.On Sunday, Gonzalez put down a $10,000 credit at a gas station on 16th Street and Thomas Road, which caused chaos when cars lined up and blocked major streets. Police shut the giveaway down before all $10,000 could be spent on gas, according to the store’s manager.
Gonzalez also put $10,000 down at Juanderful Tacos on Camelback Road, which won the Phoenix New Times Best Tacos award in 2024. The store’s co-owner, Juan Robles, said Gonzalez caught the store “100% by surprise” but told New Times that “it was an amazing experience despite the fact that we were not prepared for it at all.”
Outside dd’s Discount store, Gonzalez told New Times he planned to do another giveaway announcement in a few weeks or a month.
“This is going to be a staple of what we do on the channel — releasing business locations that are useful for the community,” he said.
Gonzalez has been making YouTube content for 10 years and for the past five years has been filming giveaways. Before that, he said, the channel was focused mostly on pranking people.
“Then we transitioned to prank giveaways where we’d prank people and then give back,” Gonzalez said. “For the most part now, we do mass giveaways.”
After he does a few more giveaways in Phoenix, he plans to go out of state to “help out other cities.”
