Last weekend Ben Franklin Crafts in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin got customers excited for National Tie-Dye Day with an in-store tie-dying event, complete with a make & take activity and a coupon for discounted Tie-Day related merchandise. Lynda Laugavitz, one of the facilitators, detailed the logistics (and marveled over how surprisingly easy it was!).
“Customers signed up ahead of time so we had an idea of how many were coming. We asked them to bring a damp white t-shirt and wear old clothes. When they arrived, we had a table set up with dye from the Jacquard Tie Dye Kit. After they wound up their shirts using the spiral method and put rubber bands on, they were ready to go!
We minimized the possibility for a mess by having them place their shirts in recycled aluminum trays before applying the dye. The trays also made carrying the shirts home a lot easier. I copied Jacquard’s directions for finishing the shirts at home, and also provided a coupon for savings on Tie-Dye related items which a few people happily took advantage of. We hosted all ages: kids who were elementary age, a really fun sister-in-law pair and families with several teenagers.”
Key Takeaways
“I was surprised by how easy it was to host this event. We did it out in the store in one of our extra wide aisles, which was fun because other customers could see the activity, too. A couple of customers even made a point to stop in the store to view the event in person. We’ll definitely do this type of event again – we had a super fun time and so did our customers!”
Next Up: National Creativity Day!
Happy participants show off their new Tie-Dye shirts!
We are so inspired by Ben Franklin’s activation around National Tie-Dye Day (which was April 30th – did anyone in your store wear Tie-Dye? Send us pics!). Next on the docket? National Creativity Day! We’ve got a handful of ideas as well as posts and images for social media and flyers to post around the store. Click here to start brainstorming an activity for May 30th and check your inbox for our social media kit!
