Opening a new store is one thing. Making sure the community knows you’re there is another.
In this episode of The RTO Show Podcast, host Pete Shau talks with APRO member RNR Tire Express Vice President of Franchising Vincent Ficarrotta about what goes into a successful rent-to-own (RTO) grand opening and why its impact should extend well beyond a single day.
Ficarrotta brings considerable firsthand experience to the conversation. During his 24 years with RNR, he has participated in more than half of the company’s 200-plus store openings. Along the way, he has seen grand openings evolve from balloons and roadside promotion to events supported by digital marketing, community partnerships, food trucks, and other strategies designed to bring people through the door.
An RTO Grand Opening Is About More Than Sales
For Ficarrotta, the success of an RTO grand opening shouldn’t be measured solely by the number of transactions completed that day. One of its most important purposes is creating awareness and giving the team an opportunity to explain what makes the business different.
That means collecting contact information from visitors, starting conversations, and creating opportunities to follow up. A customer who doesn’t make a purchase during the event may become a customer later.
Ficarrotta also sees the event as an opportunity to evaluate the store team. A busy grand opening can serve as an early stress test, revealing how well employees communicate, manage customer flow, and step in for one another when traffic increases.
The real impact may become clearer in the weeks that follow. Ficarrotta suggests looking for an increase in business after the event rather than treating opening-day revenue as the only measure of success.
Building Awareness Before and After Opening Day
Timing matters, too. Ficarrotta recommends allowing roughly one to two months between a soft opening and the grand opening when circumstances allow. That gives the team time to work through operational issues before making a larger introduction to the community.
When it comes to promoting the event, he points to the one- to two-week period beforehand as an effective window for building awareness. Digital marketing can provide targeted, trackable exposure, but he emphasizes that traditional community outreach still has an important place.
Visiting nearby businesses, distributing flyers, connecting with the local chamber, partnering with complementary businesses, and working with food vendors can all help expand the event’s reach. Rather than relying too heavily on one channel, Ficarrotta recommends using a combination of approaches within the available budget.
Once people arrive, the store itself should feel like an event. Signs, banners, balloons, giveaways, and other attention-getters can help draw interest from people who may not have encountered the marketing beforehand.
And then there’s Ficarrotta’s most memorable grand-opening tactic: dressing as a pirate. What began as a convenient way to attend an RNR opening before Tampa’s Gasparilla festivities became a recurring character, “Captain Jack Spare,” complete with roadside waving, beads, and eye patches.
The costume may have been unusual, but the principle behind it was simple: get noticed, start conversations, and give people a reason to remember the business.
Ultimately, Ficarrotta returns to a lesson he learned early in his career: grow the business one customer and one relationship at a time. A strong RTO grand opening creates an opportunity to begin those relationships and build momentum that continues long after the balloons come down.
Listen to the full episode of The RTO Show Podcast, proudly sponsored by APRO, on Spotify or watch it on YouTube.
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About RNR Tire Express:
RNR Tire Express has been an APRO member since 2001.
