America’s Thrift Stores Grand Opening — a two-day experience in Dothan, Alabama that turned a store opening into a community celebration.
Founded in 1984, America’s Thrift Stores is a for-profit company with a mission that goes far beyond retail. By collecting donated clothing and household items from the local community and reselling them, America’s Thrift Stores generates profits that fund children’s health charities and addiction recovery programs — improving lives while giving everyday items a second life.
Their 18th location in Dothan, Alabama was a big deal. It was the first new store they’d opened since 2013 — and after years of anticipation, they wanted the grand opening weekend to feel like the moment it was.
The store opened its doors the day before Elevate arrived. We came in for a customer appreciation night on Friday, then ran a full day of hosting on Saturday — dance parties, raffle drawings, giveaways, announcements, real-time social media, and a steady stream of energy that kept 2,500+ daily visitors feeling welcomed, engaged, and genuinely excited about what America’s Thrift Stores is.
Grand openings carry real pressure — especially one this long in the making. CEO Ken Sobaski brought Elevate in because he needed to know the experience side was handled.
Create a grand opening weekend that matched the significance of the moment — communicating what makes America’s Thrift Stores genuinely unlike anything customers have experienced before, while keeping the energy high and the execution seamless across two full days.
We made it our primary goal to take the event entirely off Ken and his team’s plate. While they focused on the organizational details of launching a new location, we focused on making every customer interaction feel like a celebration — from the door to the raffle table to the Instagram stories going live in real time.
Three people. Two days. Two thousand five hundred visitors daily.
Over 2,500 customers came through the doors each day — and they didn’t just shop. They stayed, they engaged, and they left with a real sense of what makes America’s Thrift Stores different. Around 10,000 to 15,000 new items hit the floor every single day, which means every visit is a different experience — and our job was to make sure customers understood and felt that.
The energy was high. The social media coverage was real-time and on-brand. And Ken and his team got to focus on leading their organization through a significant milestone, knowing the experience side was in good hands.
For Elevate, it was one of those events where the cause, the client, and the work all aligned. We had the best time — and we think it showed.
Whether you’re planning for 50 or 5,000, we design, plan, and produce events that people actually remember.
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