Last night was proof that RETAIL THERAPY WORKS! I attended an amazing tweetup. Probably one of my all time favorite tweetups. The event was gorgeous, executed perfectly, planned so well, had the nicest staff, so many fun surprises and the marketing/outreach done prior to the tweetup was smart and strategic!

Almost 2 weeks ago I receive a nice email in my inbox from Norstrom Rack.

The first thing they did right was invite their target audience. They also did research on people who are influential in the San Diego Social Media space and invited that group too. They wanted to create buzz around the event and generate positive conversations. That’s exactly what they did. Oh and they made sure to have an easy to follow #hashtag #rackopening.

My Favorite Tweet #rackopening @melonie @KariLikeSafari

I step into the store and am immediately greeted with peach champagne and a $50 gift card I can use the same day! I am a huge Nordstrom lover. I buy almost everything at Nordstrom from makeup to jeans, to shoes and jackets but I rarely shop at the rack. Tonight may have changed my mind because the rack had so many designer and high end brands at a fraction of the price! I couldn’t help but grab things off virtually every rack because everything was so cute yet cost effective.

Photo by @sukhjit

After putting a few things in my cart, I take a photo and post a tweet with the lovely fashionista @eyemusing. Little did I know this tweet was going to score us both a complimentary must-have for our wardrobe! Since they were doing giveaways the entire night, the store manager was following the hashtag and chose winners from the people tweeting/posting photos of the event! They called our names to the front and let us know that we won a free item in our cart! I am seriously so grateful! I chose a brand new pair of designer, Hudson Jeans! SCORE!

The rest of the evening was spent shopping, catching up with friends, conversing with the nicest staff who were so happy to help at any time and still feeling so grateful to have won a complimentary must-have piece for my wardrobe. I decided that it was an evening to stock up on pants since winter is coming up and living in San Diego, pants are pretty minimal in my wardrobe. I got a pair of black slacks, gray yoga pants and of course my gorgeous pair of Hudson Jeans!

Nordstrom Rack Did it Right! Here are just a few things Nordstrom Rack did perfectly that you can model when hosting your next event:

1. Invite your target audience to the event

2. Invite Social Media influencers to create buzz

3. Create an easy to follow event hashtag #rackopening

4. Make sure you have enough staff to handle the event

5. Be generous with giveaways

6. Treat all customers/attendees with respect

More awesome Facts about Nordstrom Rack Plaza Bonita:

1. They have an in house tailor, one of the few rack stores that offer this service.

2. Go Green with an electronic receipt! They emailed me mine right to my email.

3. DESIGNER everything at more than half off! I didn’t know the Rack stores carried so much awesome merchandise.

THANK YOU again Nordstrom Rack Plaza Bonita for an amazing, fun and fashionable evening! I wish you the best of luck with your grand opening and much success after that! I’ll definitely be talking about this event for years to come because it was EPIC! 

@jennyjenjen, @eyemusing, @MyMelodie, @moonshinedesign, @sarahmarkels