A well executed Grand Opening can kickstart your business with the tools needed to create longevity and drive sustainable business success. With the recent opening of their store, Nautical Bowls Hutchinson has gotten off to a great start and managed to make themselves known within their community. With a plan in mind and the willingness to learn from themselves, they have hit the ground running and are already seeing the benefits of their hard work paying off.
When preparing for their Grand Opening, Hutchinson focused on community and social awareness and creating an enjoyable guest experience. Knowing that the Grand Opening day is busy, long and often even a bit chaotic – they made sure to take the time to staff their location very well. By preparing internally, the Hutchinson team was able to ensure they could put their best foot forward to share with all incoming guests – making way for the fun stuff!
A Grand Opening is a celebration of your hard work, but also an experience provided to those guests who are coming to your location for the very first time. When asked what they did to prepare for the event itself, Amber from Hutchinson shared, “Since our location is on the smaller side, we had a tent up in the parking lot with lots of giveaways along with raffle items. It allowed our guests to come inside for a bowl, and then chill out in the grassy area to relax, enjoy their bowl, and play fun games!” By offering guests the chance to enjoy their product and have a memorable experience at their Grand Opening, Hutchinson gave their guests a look into what the Nautical Bowls Brand is all about – serving others and community involvement.
Another way that Hutchinson made sure they were set to have their Grand Opening was through community and social awareness. “We set up several social posts, as well as created and boosted a Grand Opening Facebook event to the local area to ensure our event had a good following,” Amber said. Their effort to get ready for the event, and also to make sure the community knew it was taking place, paid off in the form of a successful day, with Amber sharing the advice for future opening stores to, “Be ready for a fun day! We had a great time seeing all the people come out to support us!”
With a great event, also comes the chance to reflect as a team and even discuss areas where you could have improved or changed something to better your outcome – a valuable tool in any business owner’s playbook. In thinking about what they might have done differently the day of their Grand Opening, Amber said, “As I look back, the thing that comes to mind I would most like to change is being way more engaged in our long line of people all day. As owners, we did not seem too engaged in the line as people waited. Our activities were not close to our line and that left people just waiting to get into our store. I would have added/changed to set up a tent in our parking spots, closed off the parking lot more and then had everything closer to the store entrance. Based on the longer lines, we did not engage in asking for many Google Reviews as we were not sure how people would respond being the line took a little longer than expected.”
As they look to the future and continue their journey, the Hutchinson team knows success is not without the help of their community. To make sure they are capitalizing on the local happenings, Amber said they “are all very involved in the community so it makes it easy to know what is happening and to be involved. We also joined our local Chamber of Commerce to stay top of mind with our local businesses.”
With a successful Grand Opening under their belt and the openness to always be improving and looking for what’s next, Nautical Bowls Hutchinson is sure to be making waves in their hometown! Congratulations, Hutchinson!
