Wyoming 2012
Wyoming, 2012. WikiCommons

The smallest town in the U.S. has been sold to a Vietnamese businessman in auction for $900,000. The tiny town of Buford, Wyoming (population: one) is now owned by Pham Dinh Nguyen, who plans to turn it into a trading hub for Vietnamese coffee.

Buford is located on Interstate 80 between Laramie and Cheyenne. The town consists of a convenience store, gas station and modular home on four hectares of land. It was put up for sale by its only inhabitant, Don Sammons, who owned the land since 1992, according to Invest Vine, a news portal covering investment opportunities in Southeast Asia.

The town was established in 1866, and once boasted a population of 2,000 when the Transcontinental Railroad was built nearby. Since the railroad rerouted, the population has shrunk to just one.

New owner Ngyuen intends to rename the town PhinDeli, the brand name of his Vietnamese-style coffee. The convenience store in Buford will be transformed into a PhinDeli café, and will sell both “deluxe” and “super-clean” coffee beans.

The café will also “serve coffee free-of-charge for visitors,” according to Ngyuen. In addition to retailing in this location, PhinDeli coffee will also be distributed through Amazon, and eventually, if things go right, Walmart and other big retailers, Invest Vine reported.