A grand opening is crucial for attracting potential customers to your storefront, raising brand awareness, and networking with local businesses. Any business that is new, expanding, or even relocating can benefit from a grand opening event. In this guide, we cover 20 unique grand opening ideas for small businesses to evoke excitement and interest from the community.
1. Practice with a Soft Opening
A soft opening is a great way to test your ideas before fully committing and opening to the public with a grand opening. A soft opening is often a smaller-scale event and serves as an excellent testing and training ground for yourself and your team before the real thing.
Soft Opening vs Grand Opening
A soft opening is like a grand opening, but it has a limited guest or attendee list. Typically, a soft opening is for friends, family, loyal customers (if you already have some), investors, and others with close connections to the business and/or owner.
Starting with a soft opening not only helps you work the kinks out but also offers a chance to start building buzz and excitement for your big event. You can use the soft opening to collect photos, testimonials, and other materials to promote the grand opening.
2. Excite Customers with a Theme
Make your grand opening stand out by centering it around a fun, memorable theme. Themes give attendees an additional opportunity to interact with your brand and make the event feel like a special production (which leads to more photos and online shares).
You can incorporate your theme into your online event page, decor, food and drinks, music, and activities. For example, a 1920s speakeasy-themed event could serve fun cocktails or mocktails among elegant Art Deco trimmings while playing jazz records. For the greatest impact, encourage staff and attendees to dress the part.
Having a themed opening—for example, encouraging attendees to dress in costume—can go a long way toward making the event (and your brand) a memorable one. (Source: Envato)
3. Create a Can’t-miss Workshop
Rather than simply opening your doors and letting customers shop, consider turning your grand opening into a true occasion with a workshop or special event. This gives potential consumers an extra reason to attend your grand opening and spend more time there. A pet store might do a workshop on how to make homemade dog treats, while a sporting goods store could do free run and gait analyses. Having attendees teach, do, or build something tangible also makes the experience more positive and memorable.
4. Treat Your Guests to Food & Beverages
Like giveaways and music, food can draw people to your grand opening. Of course, if you’re opening a food-based business, serving these items goes without saying. But if your business does not normally sell food or drinks, you should consider making these available at your opening.
Here are a few tips if you plan to serve food and drinks:
- Check with your local area’s guidelines around permits and food safety certifications.
- If you intend to serve alcohol, ensure you’re doing so legally. This may require getting additional permits or licenses and hiring and training staff.
- Ensure that all food service is handled with the proper Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-recommended guidelines.
Enoteca del Re, an Italian wine bar in Los Angeles, offered affordable house wines and antipasto boards in an all-night happy hour special during its grand opening. Each food or wine purchase at the event entitled the buyer to a raffle ticket, giving them a chance to win large prizes at the end of the night.
5. Team Up With an Influencer
Influencer marketing is an excellent way to spread the word about your brand to a new audience. It’s so powerful that 60% of brands that already use influencer marketing planned to increase their budget for it over the course of 2024, according to a report from Influencer Marketing Hub. You can invite influencers to your opening event to build buzz and encourage them to take and post photos using your branded hashtag before, during, and after the event.
Consider a mix of well-known influencers with large followings and micro-influencers with smaller but more engaged audiences. The same report found that smaller influencers have recently become more popular among small to midsize businesses compared with bigger influencers, partly because the latter are more expensive to work with.
6. Highlight Corporate Social Responsibility
Consumers are increasingly interested in companies’ corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Donor-tracking organization Double the Donation found that 77% of consumers want to buy from companies that follow CSR practices and initiatives. Plus, buyers would be willing to spend an average of 9.7% more on products that they know are sustainably produced, according to widely cited PwC research.
You can lean into these consumer preferences with your grand opening. Feature a charity or donate proceeds to a cause close to your and your customers’ hearts.
During its grand opening, premium bakery Lantmannen Unibake partnered with Bee Downtown, an organization that promotes sustainable agriculture and bee conservation. This collaboration improved potential customers’ impression of the bakery and brought attention to ecological and environmental issues.
Here are some other grand opening ideas around supporting a cause:
- Raise funds for a local nonprofit organization
- Host a blood drive at your sporting goods shop
- Do a toy drive at your children’s clothing boutique
- Raise funds to provide classroom supplies for a nearby school
- Organize volunteers for an animal shelter
7. Establish Community Partnerships
Beyond giving to a cause, you can use your grand opening event as an opportunity to connect with other community pillars, such as local theaters, ministries, foundations, or other organizations.
When planning his grand opening event, Joseph Hill, owner of Classy Women Collection, invited local nonprofits to set up booths and encouraged attendees to learn more about the organizations. “This not only gave us a chance to give back to the community but also helped to build lasting relationships with these organizations for future collaborations,” he explains.
8. Offer a Giveaway
Giveaways are surefire ways to lure potential shoppers to your grand opening, and recipients are likely to turn into paying customers. So, giveaways are effective not only at driving foot traffic to your event but also at driving sales post-grand opening.
As opposed to freebies and gift bags (mentioned below), giveaways are typically a more substantial product offered in limited numbers to create a sense of urgency and exclusivity.
Sweet Paris, a Houston-based creperie brand, tries to partner with local influencers and do wine and champagne giveaways every time it opens a new branch. This allows people to try some new beverages and partake in photo opportunities as Sweet Paris enters the local market, boosting its reputation in the area immediately.
9. Hand Out Freebies
You can give free gifts or goodie bags to people who attend your grand opening. You could put together small items from other local businesses, branded promotional products, or, better yet, free samples of your own products. Be sure to include a reminder of your brand or event—be it a business card or printed logo.
Here are some other ideas for freebies to hand out at your grand opening event:
- Branded face masks
- Ear savers
- Travel hand sanitizers
- Laptop webcam covers
- Screen cleaners
- Travel charger
- Water bottles
- Sunglasses and caps
10. Hold a Raffle
Try raffling off some of the products or services you sell during your grand opening event. Or, as an alternative prize, you can raffle a luxurious gift basket or products from neighboring businesses. A raffle is a fun activity to draw in guests and a great way to start building your email list.
Have a station at the event with pens and raffle tickets (which can be as simple as slips of paper with a couple of blank fields), and ask entrants to provide their name and email address. Then make the final drawing a big deal to draw attention to your product. Be sure to retain the losing slips and add them to your email list later on.
11. Offer Exclusive Discounts & Deals
Discounts and exclusive deals are great for your grand opening. Consider extending them for at least a week after the event, allowing patrons who could not attend to stop by your store to take advantage of the deals. Be sure to promote them and put the expiration date in your advertising.
12. Have a Photo Contest
Leverage your grand opening to increase brand awareness, boost your digital presence, and collect UGC (user-generated content) by turning it into a social media contest.
Pick and announce a prize—like free products, services, gift cards, or event tickets—and allow attendees to enter the contest by posting photos from your event on Facebook or Instagram. Make it a requirement that the poster follows and tags your business account as well as uses any hashtags you’re targeting.
Publish the rules on your social media account(s) and include them on the grand opening event page. In-person reminders throughout the grand opening space (especially near particularly selfie-worthy backdrops) also help.
After the event, you can select the winning photo at random or take a vote on which photo is best. Then share a post announcing the winner and their prize.
13. Host a Competition
Competitions offer a great way to make events even more exciting and engaging for all participants. You can feature a variety of small games throughout your event or one big competition with a special prize.
Jon Morgan, CEO of Venture Smarter, recalls helping one of his clients organize a cupcake decorating competition for the grand opening of their bakery. Discounts were offered on cupcakes along with free decorating supplies, and attendees had fun making their own sweet creations. “The event was well attended, and attendees shared photos of their decorated cupcakes on social media, generating buzz around the bakery’s brand,” he explains.
Vintage Land, home of the Los Feliz Flea market, installed three new rooftop pickleball courts during its grand opening in 2023. Players and pickleball enthusiasts of any skill level could use the courts for friendly competitions or just free-for-all play. Besides being a gesture of goodwill for residents, the move also encouraged people to sign up for the Angel City Pickleball Club.
14. Provide Ongoing Activities
To keep guests engaged, it’s helpful to provide less structured activities that they can casually pick up when it’s convenient for them. Some popular grand opening ideas include the following:
- Photo booth (bonus points for having branded props to use)
- Scavenger hunt
- Board, casino, or lawn games
- Wine tasting
- Karaoke
- Arts and crafts
- Selfie wall
The Cheesy Fromage in Ontario, Canada, had its grand opening in July 2022. It planned a scavenger hunt event along the Lakefield Trail, with prizes including cheese, charcuterie, and gift cards.
15. Book Local Musicians
Musical entertainment drives foot traffic and places your brand in front of the act’s local audience. Again, this grand opening idea turns your opening into a true event, a destination for people to seek out. If your store is in an area with high foot traffic, this is a great way to attract attention and passersby.
When Daily Basket held its grand opening, it hired a local band to play music for shoppers. If you plan to go this route, make sure you have a dedicated space with easy access to electrical outlets for your hired band, singer, or DJ. Also, ask about local permit requirements.
16. Hire an Entertaining Performer
Like booking live music, you can opt to hire different kinds of performers if it better suits your brand, audience, or vision for your event. These performances are typically eye-catching and novel, which can help your event gain traction.
Through platforms like The Bash, you can browse and search for variety acts in your area. Options include comedians, dancers, impersonators, magicians, fortune tellers, and even contortionists.
17. Invite a Guest Speaker
Having a guest speaker can elevate the overall experience of your grand opening event, especially if you can secure a speaker with expertise that connects with your brand or product.
A famous or credible speaker can draw guests in and create buzz around your event—but if that isn’t in your budget, an otherwise qualified speaker can still provide memorable takeaways and help customers engage with your store.
18. Collaborate with Other Businesses
Partnering with a fellow business for your grand opening can put your store in front of a new audience. And the options are limitless—you can invite multiple vendors to join your event. Much like with influencers or music acts, business collaborations put your brand in front of an already established, trusting—and defined—audience.
Consider businesses that cater to a similar audience, potentially with complementary products. If you sell jewelry, for example, you might invite a local apparel designer and a footwear brand.
19. Get Customers Dancing
If you will hire live entertainers, musicians, or a DJ, consider providing a dance floor as well. Letting your guests get their groove on will help them loosen up, meet and network with each other, share some laughs, and associate your brand with fun, unique memories.
Be sure to let attendees know ahead of time that dancing will be available so that they can dress appropriately. Also, let your hired musicians or DJs know this so they can prepare a variety of dance-friendly music. You can also build your own music playlist for this purpose and even encourage guests to add their own music before (or during!) the event.
20. Hold Free Consultations
If you like the idea of guest speakers but prefer something smaller-scale or less formal, you can arrange for your employees to provide free consultation on the day of the opening. This could look like staff members circulating among event attendees and talking to them about your company’s products, services, and potential in the business landscape. These consultations can take the form of one-on-one chats or small groups facilitated by a staff member.
Your staff members can engage event attendees—whether potential customers or networks—in friendly conversations while promoting your brand. (Source: Envato)
Tips to Prepare for Your Grand Opening
Even if you have the best ideas for your business’s grand opening, the event can still fall flat if you neglect basic preparation or forget about logistical matters. Plan appropriately so that guests arrive safely and smoothly at your event, and you can focus more on crafting a great experience for attendees rather than putting out logistical fires.
Plan for Parking & Logistics
While it may seem like an afterthought, your store’s normal parking spaces may not be enough for a grand opening event—especially if it’s scheduled to happen during neighboring businesses’ hours of operation. Insufficient parking can deter guests from attending your event or lead to potential violations and fines.
To solve this problem, plan in advance by ensuring there is additional parking available for your attendees on nearby streets or in overflow lots. You may need to pay for this extra parking, but often it’s as simple as scouting the area and/or making a simple request to nearby businesses.
Be sure to communicate the location of your extra parking to guests before the event.
“Sell” Tickets
You can use a ticketing platform like Eventbrite to offer people the opportunity to “buy” a ticket to your grand opening. In most cases, you won’t charge for these tickets. Instead, attendees can RSVP by providing their email address and other basic information of your choice—this is a great tactic to start building your email list and nurturing customer relationships.
Plus, many of these platforms will remind people of the upcoming event, increasing the likelihood that they’ll attend. Additionally, if you require a waiver or permissions (such as photo release forms), you can do so via your ticketing process.
Share a Map of Your Location
You want to make it as easy as possible for people to find your grand opening’s location, be it at your store or an event space. One way to do that is to provide a map and directions—and it’s even better if you can show pictures of the place so that people know what to look for.
You’ll also want to ensure you’ve claimed your Google My Business page and then ensure the information is up-to-date. Pay extra attention to the location because this is what many people click on to get directions via their GPS navigation app.
Include a link to your Google Maps location on any landing pages, webpages, emails, Facebook event pages, and other digital communications about the grand opening. Add a screenshot or an embedded Google Maps window if possible.
Lure Shoppers With Signage
If you’re in an area with a lot of foot traffic, you can attract passersby with creative signage about your grand opening. In addition to your storefront sign, consider adding a banner or lights to draw extra attention to your shop and make it obvious that something special is happening.
Here are some other business sign ideas:
- Sign Spinning: If your business is located near a major traffic area (pedestrian or car), you might want to employ a sign spinner. The risk of hiring a sign spinner is that their acrobatics are the center of attention and not the business.
- Sidewalk/Chalk Advertising: This guerrilla marketing tactic is popular on college campuses and areas with lots of foot traffic. They only last a few days but can attract much attention in that time span. The legality of sidewalk ads varies by location, so if you see many of these in a particular area, it’s probably safe to chalk up there. You should always check with your local chamber of commerce for the specific rules.
- Balloons, Banners, and Signs: These fun additions can make your business look festive and attract attention.
Run Geotargeted Ads
When you do a paid ad for your grand opening, you can target those in your local area. This way, you will avoid spending money on ads for shoppers located in California when your store is in North Carolina.
Business advertising on Facebook is one great way to use geotargeted ads. You can promote your Facebook event page or drive users to a landing page outside of Facebook. You can also advertise on Google, targeting local searches. We break down Facebook Ads vs Google Ads to help you choose which is better for you—but you can always use a combination.
Want to learn about pay-per-click advertising? Head over to our article on Google advertising costs.
Create a Facebook Event
After you make a Facebook business page, you can create an official Facebook event from this page. Doing this will help promote your grand opening because the event will show up in local searches. So, if a Facebook user is looking for something to do in their local area, they may come across your event—even if they’ve never heard of your brand.
Plus, people who RSVP to Facebook events receive notifications for any posts on the event page and reminders of the upcoming event. This is a great way to stay top-of-mind and tease your upcoming grand opening.
When creating your Facebook event page, include photos and videos of the space that make it look exciting and recognizable—you don’t want anyone to have trouble finding your store. Share details about your event, including promotions, contests, entertainment, and products or services.
Facebook event pages should include crucial details like dates, times, maps, and parking arrangements.
Write & Distribute a Press Release
A well-written and distributed press release leading up to and even recapping your grand opening can help attract attendees and shoppers.
We have a comprehensive guide to help you write a grand opening press release, and you can also check out our other resources:
- Demystifying the Press Release Format (+Free Template)
- Best Press Release Examples by Type (& Why They Work)
- How to Send a Press Release (+ Distribution Tips)
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Click through the sections below to learn more about how to make your business grand opening as memorable and exciting as possible.
Start by making your event promotional materials convenient and interesting. Design an eye-catching Google My Business page, Facebook event page, and other ads that generate excitement for the opening. Announce a few “hooks” to get people excited; for example, a certain theme or costume, giveaways, or a well-known guest speaker.
Keep your attendees engaged and interested at all times; give them space to circulate and talk with each other, but don’t let them get bored. You can host a workshop, organize games and raffles, have friendly competitions, offer free consultations, and more.
Don’t forget to organize logistics beforehand, so that guests can find their way to the event easily. During the opening itself, thank your attendees for showing up, your staff for being the backbone of the business so far, and your vendors for supplying everyone’s needs. Give a brief background of your business, but don’t turn this into a long speech. Encourage everyone to enjoy themselves, and then roll out your prepared activities.
Bottom Line
Starting your own business is an exciting endeavor, and applying these cool grand opening ideas is a great way to share that excitement with potential customers (and make your event one to remember).
