Overview
Invite your charity partner and local town officials to participate in your Grand Opening Event.
See the New Store Opening Guide for the comprehensive approach to this topic.
Details
The more people at your grand opening (or grand re-opening) event, the more excitement there will be for your store.
Charity Partners
By involving your charity partner, you provide an additional venue for the charity to get out its message and you let the world know of your association with that charity.
At Starbucks we would often include a check presentation at our Grand Opening Event and officially declare our partnership and commitment to our charity partner and their cause.
See Charity: Selecting a Charity Partner for more details on finding a charity partner.
Dignitary & Celebrity Participation
The more officials and important people you can include in your event, the more newsworthy and the more important it will be.
You need to do something important and worthy of attracting the mayor or a celebrity. Make your event worthwhile.
Consider too, folks from the local Chamber of Commerce and Business Development Chapters.
Back in the late 80’s at Starbucks, we launched the “All Books for Children” Book drive. In New York City, we invited actor Tony Randall to do an in-store reading. He agreed in exchange for a donation to his favorite charity. One year the company partnered with baseball star Mark McGwire to help build awareness and support for the book drive.
Tips
- Be sure to approach both groups as soon as possible as their event calendars get very busy.
- Be sure to invite the media. See Media Advisory.
- Take pictures yourself – in case the media doesn’t show up – you have images to share via social media during and after the event
- We *highly* recommend sending hand-written thank you notes to all the charity, dignitary and special participants. A thank you note goes a long way these days.
