When You Should Host Your Grand Opening

After the franchise agreement has been signed, the staff has been hired and final touches are made, it’s time to hold a Grand Opening. A Grand Opening event is a way for new establishments to announce its location to the general public. However, it takes more than a few balloons to make an event come together.

Here’s what you need to know about when a brand should host a Grand Opening event.

Get the word out. Just like any event, no one will show up unless they know about it. That means promoting the Grand Opening.

“We generally will start about one month in advance,” said Dan Corrigan, director of marketing with Wing Zone. “We do not want to start too early because then people get sick of hearing about it coming soon. There always seem to be small delays within the construction process so we’ll generally wait until the maximum delay is a week or so.”

When it comes to promotion, utilize all traditional and digital media outlets to harness the power of promotion. Set up a Facebook event about a month out and utilize target ads aimed at an audience in the opening’s area.

Plan a soft opening. According to the National Restaurant Association, there are many ways to hold a soft opening. This could range from just opening the doors and letting curious customers delve into the business, or it could mean hosting a family-and-friends charity night. The idea is to work out any possible issues before a grand opening and get the staff ready for what regular business will be like.

Before the opening of each new franchise, Wing Zone hosts a Mock Rush. This is a training opportunity where local customers have a chance to enjoy Wing Zone’s products for free while the brand is helping the staff train.

“We do not want to open the doors and make mistakes when people are paying for the food. So for the Mock Rush we'll give away free food, which allows our team members to practice and go through a real experience without too much pressure,” said Corrigan. “We also make sure to manage the expectations during a lunch or dinner rush.”

Wing Zone holds its Mock Rush on Mondays and Tuesdays and allows for a day off before their grand openings.

Aim for a Thursday. “We’ve found Thursdays are a great day for Wing Zone. It sets us up for a big weekend but allows us an additional day to work out some of the kinks,” said Corrigan.

While it may depend on what type of establishment you’re opening, try to keep in mind when your customers will be able to attend the event. The weekend and days leading up to it are a great time to capitalize on people having more free time to come out an enjoy your products or services.

Start Strong. When it comes to opening the doors, Corrigan believes in having a big, strong opening week. While other concepts may want to start slow and build up sales, the wing franchise has found that there is less confusion around a Grand Opening when the location is first opened.

“In the past we’d wait a month before our Grand Opening Party and we’d have a lot of regulars confused because they’d been coming for a few weeks now,” said Corrigan. “This [timeline] eliminates the confusion. The Saturday during opening week is our Grand Opening Party with wing eating contests, giveaways and samples.”

Get involved with the community. A Grand Opening is also a great way to kick off a relationship with the local community. When hosting a Grand Opening, get the community excited with day-of promotions and events to help spread awareness. This may mean reaching out to local city officials to attend a ribbon cutting ceremony or getting involved with local schools and charities to make sure community members can attend the event.

Wing Zone likes to build a little friendly competition into its Grand Opening events.

“We’ll plan a Wing Eating Team Competition where the winners receive a catered party from Wing Zone,” said Corrigan. “Generally the two teams will be rival high schools, firefighters vs. police officers, or Bigs vs. Littles with the Big Brothers & Big Sisters organizations. We'll try to give back as much as possible and each franchisee will choose how they'd like to begin their community relationships.”