To celebrate the opening of its 19,000-square-foot Lincoln Park location last Thursday, Pottery Barn hosted an in-store cocktail bash that aimed to channel the flowery season to come. "We wanted to invite people into the warmth of our new store, and let them walk away with the feeling of spring," said Michaela Wilkinson, the chain's San Francisco-based manager of public relations, who flew to Chicago to facilitate last week's event.
Planners used a beat-the-winter-blues hook to lure guests to the opening party, sending an invite in early January that used a cheerful cursive font to declare: "There's only one way to beat winter: Invite spring." They also asked four local socialites—Stacey Reineking Sather, Susanna Negovan, Candace Jordan, and Jessica LaGrange—to host the function and invite their contacts. Around 400 guests ultimately made it to the soiree, and the crowd included top Pottery Barn clients, journalists, and interior designers.
Along with sipping lychee martinis and snacking on farmhouse-inspired fare, guests stocked up on new home goods. "People really are shopping," said Wilkinson at the event. "As guests are realizing that they get a 10 percent discount tonight, we're having to pull a few more associates off the floor and over to the cash wraps." A portion of the evening's proceeds will go to the Parkways Foundation, which has an appropriate-for-springtime mission of improving local parks.
