My Big Helper wants to start her own business.
Actually, she wants to start a bunch of them, and she’s always coming to me with new ways to raise money for the mission trip she wants to take. That means that whenever we have the opportunity to learn more about entrepreneurship, we’re all for it.
So besides being excited that Sheetz was opening just around the corner from us, I was really excited to learn that they were going to have a big grand opening celebration. I’ve never been to one of those before, and neither have the kids – but what better way to learn about ways to draw customers to a new business?
My Little Man thought the Sheetz Hummer was pretty cool.
We even learned from the back of the employees’ shirts. Being a good employer is important.
My Big Helper made a list of things she saw that would be exciting to customers. One thing she liked was the balloon release. Because Sheetz never closes, they actually tied the door key to the balloons and sent it away. Neat idea!
When the doors were opened, we found a table just inside the door with a lottery-type machine full of numbered ping-pong balls. You had to be 16 to play, but since I am, I did – and the number I pulled out was attached to a gift card for free Sheetz stuff. Yay! Free is great.
By the time that we’d left, we had noticed lots of things that Sheetz was doing to make this grand opening a special event for their customers, and they do such a great job at it that we met people who had driven from other counties just to be present. That’s dedication! We definitely learned a bit about marketing and advertising that day, and we look forward to putting it to good use at My Big Helper’s store.
In the meantime, though, we’ll enjoy some free Sheetz merchandise.
Have you ever been to a business’s grand opening? What would you do to attract customers?
