Before throwing a haymaker and emptying your entire marketing chest for one grand day, it pays to employ a more diverse strategic approach and figure out which options align with the consumers you’re trying to reach.

Your grand opening is finally here, after weeks, months or even years of dreaming and planning. You’ve spent the money to promote the event and your site is teeming with new customers who are excited to take advantage of the discounts and activities you’ve planned. How can you ensure these customers come back, again and again? 

Ramping Up: The Case for a Soft Opening

While every organization is different, the planning for a grand opening can be anywhere from a couple months to close to a year. For Chris Del Monte, founder of The GoodWash in Fredericksburg, Va., the daydreaming had been going on for nearly a decade. Years ago, Del Monte had taken ownership of an existing car wash and throughout the 10 years in which he owned and operated it, he was making mental lists of how he would do things differently if he ever had the chance. 

Fast forward to 2023: The time had finally come for Del Monte to plan his own grand opening for The GoodWash. Del Monte decided on a four-month ramp up, likening it to a boxing match. “Like a boxer, who instead of throwing one haymaker with everything he has — risking a miss and the fallout that comes with it — wears down his opponent with strategic combos and sets up the final blow,” he said. “I was looking for a buildup so that even if the final blow lacked some power, it still did the trick.”

As part of its opening strategy, The GoodWash began selling its Founder’s Club memberships online while the location was under construction – approximately two months before they were set to soft open. “This was met with great enthusiasm,” Del Monte said. “We sold more than I thought we would.”

The soft opening was held in January 2024. “Opening in the dead of winter is not the ideal time to have a grand opening bash,” Del Monte said. “But it is a great time to soft open.” It gave their team time to learn the system so that as their volume grew, the team was also growing. 

The GoodWash had its official grand opening on May 4. “We washed more than 600 cars the day before and the word was out; folks were excited,” Del Monte said. “And then, wouldn’t you know it, we had the first rainy day since March on opening day. Another reason why putting all your efforts into one day can prove to be not as fruitful. Had it not been for the four-month grand opening, it would have been a full-power haymaker that missed its mark.”

Grand Openings vs. Re-Openings

GO Car Wash, with 150 locations in 10 states, is in a unique position. Not only do they have to consider grand openings for their newly built locations, but they also have to decide how to re-open locations they’ve acquired along the way. For Megan Stresing, vice president of marketing for GO, it’s all about the customer they’re talking to.

“Planning a grand opening for a new GO Car Wash location is about introducing our brand to a new market, creating buzz and engaging with the community,” Stresing said. On the other hand, grand re-openings for acquired locations focus on transitioning existing customers to the brand while attracting new ones. “We celebrate current members and find new ways to enhance their experience,” Stresing said. “Our marketing efforts emphasize the improvements and new offerings while reassuring current customers they are in good hands.”

Stresing said it is critical to stress-test facilities – both new and acquired – for your “mega days” while you’re still in the planning phase. “There always seems to be some new gremlin that can cause issues when the rush of customers comes in,” she said. “We put these stress tests on the different systems to ensure we are ready for prime time. This preparation helps us manage the high customer volumes smoothly and ensures our operations can handle peak demand effectively.” 

Investing in Making Moments

For Whistle Express Car Wash, having a successful grand opening – whether for a new location or an acquisition – is all about what they call “making moments.” 

“If we can really make a moment of that weekend and get the community involved, it can set the site up for success – we see it in the data and that formula is something we replicate over and over,” said Danielle Petersen, chief marketing officer for Whistle Express, which is up to 126 locations.

What does it look like to make a moment? 

For Whistle Express, it can be as simple as offering free washes. “We’ll do free washes during the soft opening, which gives the site time to work out all the kinks ahead of the official grand opening,” she said. 

They get to know what’s important to the community, as well.

“For our Gainesville, Fla., opening, we turned the tunnel pink for grand opening weekend and donated a dollar for every car that went through the tunnel to the University of Florida’s Link to Pink Breast Cancer Organization,” Petersen said. “That generated a lot of press for us because we were not only new to the city, but we were also directly impacting residents. The local news filmed a segment that aired multiple times that weekend. Our new Whistle app allowed us to message all the free wash customers from our soft launch and we were able to bring them back with our grand opening special. It was a true integrated campaign approach.”

Engaging Local Businesses

Sam Sousa, managing partner at All American Express car wash in Chino, Calif., has been in the car wash industry for 15 years. “I bought my first self-serve car wash in 2009. I had primarily worked on the family farm before joining the car wash industry,” Sousa said, which taught him the importance of working with local businesses and organizations. So, when All American Express opened its first location in June 2019, they teamed up with the local Chamber of Commerce to coordinate the event.

With their second location set to open in 2025, Sousa already plans to incorporate local businesses into the grand opening festivities. “We’ll have a local restaurant providing food,” Sousa said. “They’ll be cooking hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill, as well as serving mini doughnuts.”

Making Your Grand Opening a Celebration

Creating a memorable experience during a grand opening event is where the planning and execution come together. 

For Del Monte’s The GoodWash, they had activities to entertain kids and adults who visited, including a bouncy house and obstacle challenges, raffle prize giveaways, a free swag bag and a car wash tour. “The tour was a great thing and the kids loved it,” Del Monte said. “So many folks showed up to get a chance to walk through and touch all the car wash equipment.”

Stresing from GO Car Wash recommends owners and operators who are planning a grand opening stay flexible and be ready to adapt when thinking through their event’s special activities. “What works well in one market might not work in another, so staying flexible and responsive to customer preferences and feedback is crucial,” she said. “We’ve had varied experiences, from an Elvis performer in Vegas and a guy on stilts to tapping into local favorites [performers/entertainers] in Rio Grande Valley. Each event teaches us something new, and we continuously adapt our strategies to ensure our offerings remain relevant and appealing.”

Mixing It Up with Communications Channels

You’ve done all the work to plan an event that creates a special experience for attendees, but how do you convince them to try out your wash?

“Understanding your target audience and what appeals to them, knowing what your competitors offer, and timing the event during a high-demand period for car washes are all essential factors,” Stresing said. 

To reach consumers, Stresing recommends a mix of channels. “Social media is excellent for targeted reach and engagement, email campaigns are perfect for direct communication with potential customers, and local media is still very effective, especially in tight-knit communities,” she said. “Marketing at existing locations to get word-of-mouth and focus on referrals is also essential.”

Del Monte also used a variety of channels. The GoodWash worked with an online marketing company, Welcomemat, to implement its social media platform to assist with gathering consumers into a text program that enabled them to send offers for free washes. “Adding them to our text club means we’re able to keep them informed about all events in the future,” Del Monte said. This creates an opportunity for luring those consumers back. 

As part of the gift bags given away during their four-month soft opening, one of the items included was a branded T-shirt. “Currently we have around 600 people walking around town with our shirts, and we see them out there. It’s really cool and a great way to penetrate a market,” Del Monte said. 

The GoodWash also worked with a local newspaper, ensuring space on its front page in the weeks leading up to the grand opening, and the two most popular radio stations in town – promoting the grand opening event and the business itself. 

But even with a variety of channels, Del Monte admits there is no tactic that works as well as social media. “I believe that social media takes the cake for being the most effective and I don't see that changing anytime soon,” he said. “When I do a post, it gets maybe 15 likes. Yet I can't tell you how many people will later say to me they saw the post. The amount of impressions you get locally for the cost is unmatched and that was definitely our No. 1 driver.”

Sousa experienced the same results. “The most successful tactic was marketing the grand opening on social media with the offer to join the Wash Club for 50% off for new customers.”

All of these efforts do come at a cost. Budgeting for your grand opening and ensuring you have enough money to create the experience that’ll bring consumers in and returning, is essential. 

“Reframing the grand opening expense as a startup cost that will last four months is a beneficial way to look at it and budget for it,” Del Monte said. “The budget was extensive but worth every penny.”

Petersen concurred: “We’ve learned that the investment we make at a grand opening pays off.” 

How to Turn New Customers into Repeat Customers

While the grand opening is your introduction to the community, it’s just that – an introduction. Turning those grand opening visitors into repeat customers requires excellence on a few fronts.

“Demonstrate what a great product you can offer, but couple that with the impact you can have in the community,” said Petersen. “We must become part of the community and the conversation,” Stresing added.

But, even more important are enthusiasm and consistency, Stresing said.

“Turning first-time visitors into repeat customers is about keeping the energy and excitement alive beyond the grand opening,” she said. “Keep those smiles on tunnel loaders, and make sure everyone has a positive attitude. Your team should know the wash packages inside and out. Consistency is key – if you keep the magic alive, those new customers will return repeatedly.”