Rogov Tries on Glasses, Guzeeva Cuts the Ribbon: The GRESSO Store Opening Series

GRESSO was entering the retail market with branded boutiques across seven cities.

The brand is premium, the audience discerning — a beautiful window display is not enough. They needed to convey the brand’s philosophy in one evening, give guests the chance to try the product, and create a news story that would spread through local media and social networks.

The client’s objectives were clear: attract audience attention, achieve reach and PR value, and host events befitting the brand’s status. A standard opening with balloons and discounts would not work here. GRESSO sells not just glasses but an accessory with its own story. The format had to reflect that.

The team developed a unified event script that was replicated in each city but allowed for adaptation to the venue.

The framework remained consistent: ribbon-cutting ceremony, sparkling wine reception, musical accompaniment from a professional host, photographers and videographers, and invited bloggers. This format allowed local teams to prepare events according to a proven plan without reinventing the script each time.

What changed: boutique décor, blogger selection tailored to each city’s specifics, adaptation of the reception menu, and work with the specific shopping centre venue. In Krasnodar, for example, the opening coincided with the pre-New Year season. The boutique was decorated with fir garlands. The festive context amplified the effect: people came for New Year gifts and walked into an opening.

Organising a store opening in a serial format offers two advantages. First, each subsequent event becomes more cost-effective because the script, checklists, and contractors are already proven. Second, the brand gains a unified visual and content standard that can later be used in marketing materials.

A boutique opening featuring celebrities works differently from inviting a star to a corporate event. The key is that the media personality should not just cut the ribbon but fit within the brand’s context.

Stylist and TV presenter Alexander Rogov, actress and TV presenter Larisa Guzeeva, and others acted as faces of the GRESSO brand. They did not deliver rehearsed speeches. Rogov discussed frame combinations with face shapes and clothing styles. Guzeeva tried on models, shared her impressions, and spoke with the audience.

This format solved two tasks at once. For guests, it was an opportunity to receive a personal recommendation from a stylist or simply have their photo taken with a TV star. For the brand, the media presence of experts generated content: bloggers filmed the process, photographers captured key moments, and everything spread across social networks that same evening.

Boutiques inside shopping centres are limited in space. Only 30−50 people fit inside; others walk past. In Sochi, the team solved this problem by organising a video broadcast of the opening outside the store.

Shopping centre visitors who could not get inside could watch the event on a screen and listen to Alexander Rogov’s presentation. This simple technical solution turned an intimate boutique event into a happening for the entire shopping centre.

For brands planning a store opening inside a shopping centre, this is a proven tactic: minimal cost (a screen and a camera) with noticeable impact. Casual shoppers who had no intention of visiting an optics store stopped to watch — and then walked in.

The Krasnodar opening was scheduled for Thursday, 11 December. Larisa Guzeeva was due to fly in the morning, but her flight was delayed. The team decided to postpone the event to Friday.

The next day, Guzeeva arrived — and the buzz was even greater than planned for Thursday. A Friday evening in a pre-New Year shopping centre, with a TV star at the entrance, drew a queue that no one had factored into the script.

This case demonstrated one thing: a format featuring a media face gives an event a margin of safety. Even with a one-day postponement, the audience came — because they came not 'to a store opening' but 'to see Guzeeva at GRESSO'.

In each of the seven cities, the team selected media personalities aligned with the boutique’s audience. Not 'ten accounts with the highest follower counts', but people whose thematic blogs matched the philosophy and values of the GRESSO brand: fashion, lifestyle, beauty, local agenda.

Bloggers came to the opening as guests, not as advertising vehicles. They tried on glasses, created content in a natural setting, and interacted with the brand’s faces. PR support for a retail opening in this format generates organic content that reads as a recommendation rather than a paid integration.

Photographers and videographers worked at every event. All content — professional shots and blogger posts — entered the media field that same evening and the following morning. For the brand, this meant each city received its own wave of publications.

The GRESSO opening series continues.

The format refined across seven cities is ready for scaling to new locations. Brand faces, blogger engagement, and adaptation to local venues form the framework that works in both St Petersburg and Yekaterinburg.

If you are planning a series of store openings across multiple cities and would like to discuss the format, contact us. We will explain how to adapt the approach to your brand and audience.