SUN CITY WEST, Ariz. — I always loved grand openings! They’re both exciting and a little scary. After months of planning and work to prepare your mat, you’re finally ready to open it to the public. You ask yourself, “How will it go?” If you planned well, the opening should go well.
This column will serve to identify what you need to think about before you open your doors.
GET YOUR PERMITS IN ORDER
You’ve endured ups and downs securing the money needed, finding a great location, unexpected delays, and planning changes.
You’ve put in time and a lot of money choosing the right equipment, distributor, architect, lawyer, and a great contractor who really knows how to properly build a mat.
You rolled the dice on a big, expensive project, and now that opening day grows near, the excitement is building. But wait — you also need permits to build the mat in the first place, and other permits for things such as signs, etc.
You want to make sure that once you open, the city or county inspectors who visit won’t find any violations and possibly shut you down. It can and does happen!
It’s quite common to get surprise visits from representatives of the Fire, Labor and Building departments who were alerted to your mat by one or more competitors (it happened to me). Even a neighboring store of any kind that’s located a few doors down may not like that your customers are taking up parking spaces.
Is everything working as it should?
Why do I say this? Because first impressions are a big deal! For many prospective customers, you’ll have only one chance to impress them. Otherwise, they may not come back. And they’ll tell their friends about their experience, so make sure it’s a great one!
You’re at the point where you know the store will be ready in a couple weeks. But will it? Don’t assume that everything will be working as advertised, because Murphy’s law always seems to come into play when you’re most vulnerable.
So test your equipment, all of it. You should run your equipment a couple of times and pay attention to how it’s operating when you do.
In fact, for one of your last tests, you should run all the machines at the same time to duplicate a very busy day, which I’m sure you hope will be the first of many.
ENSURING THINGS ARE SAFE
During planning, construction and testing, be on the lookout for anything that is not safe.
Case in point: Even if GFCIs—ground-fault circuit interrupters—are not required by code, put them in anyhow. You never want a customer or a toddler to get an electric shock.
Choose flooring that is not only durable and easy to clean but does not become slippery when wet.
Use sturdy commercial seating that won’t collapse under a heavy load from customers.
Install a good surveillance system not just for you to catch thieves, but to make your customers feel safer while in your mat.
Also, a well-lit mat is a safer mat.
WHEN CIRCUMSTANCES CALL FOR A ‘GRAND REOPENING’
If you’re installing new washers in an older mat, have a “grand reopening.”
There’s nothing like new machines to reel in new customers, provided you program the equipment with good water levels and have hot water (I usually set my boilers at 125-130F to allow for a 5-degree drop by the time it got to the washers).
What about the rest of your store?
If your colored dryers (not stainless steel models) are still good mechanically, why not have a professional spray-paint them while your store is closed? Many customers will think you changed all the machines. Check for environmental laws in your area first, as some areas don’t allow spray-painting anymore.
Or do it the right way. Remove the hardware from the panels and bring them to a powder coating company. Have them strip the existing paint off your panels and powder-coat them any color to look like brand-new!
In the case of stainless steel dryers, you can clean them up by installing new decals, door handles, etc.
Putting in new machines is your best time to increase vend prices. Customers will rationalize the increase because the equipment is brand-new, and your competitors may not drop their prices if they see you raised yours.
I suggest a small but reasonable hike to keep customers coming until you have so many that you can raise prices again.
Take a hard look at your mat. What else can you do at a minimal cost that either needs to be done soon, or something that won’t break the bank, but will impress customers?
A good deep cleaning goes without saying, but also consider new folding tables. Or new seating. Maybe a little paint job. Now is the time.
Stock up on parts that commonly fail. This especially applies to any equipment that could hobble your business. These failures seem to happen at the worst time: when your store is busy and it’s the weekend during your grand opening when your suppliers are closed. Yikes!
Some parts nowadays can take weeks to obtain if your supplier is also out of stock, so you want to have these particular parts in stock. Change machines and VTMs are at the top of the list, I believe.
If you’re new and aren’t sure which parts to keep in stock, call the distributor or manufacturer and simply ask.
Have extra staff on hand or on call. I’m sure you hope your grand opening will draw in tons of customers, so you should be ready to handle the rush smoothly. I’ve seen fights break out over who was first in line waiting for a machine. You want everyone trying out your mat for the first time to have a great experience.
Check back Thursday for the conclusion!
Have a question or comment? E-mail our editor Bruce Beggs at [email protected].
