Blue Bee Cider, Virginia's first urban cidery, called on Big Spoon Co. to help celebrate its expansion into Scott's Addition. This booming beverage business restored and transformed a historic city stable into a larger production facility, tasting room, and cider garden.

In May 2015, the cidery made headlines after winning a bid from the City of Richmond for the stables. Now, our job was to let the public know this project was nearing completion.

Big Spoon Co. coordinated a series of grand opening events and managed media relations while the Blue Bee Cider team focused on the big move. We hired 903 Creative to create an opening brand package for use on Facebook and signage. Photographer Brandon Hambright captured the events.

Two months before opening we hosted a hard hat tour to showcase construction and tease an opening date. Blue Bee Cider received several media placements including a feature in the Washington Post and at home in the Richmond Times-Dispatch. The cidery continued to generate media placements including a mention in the Washington Post.

Instagram, we wanted its biggest fans to generate excitement for weeks to come. One month before opening, we helped Blue Bee Cider invite its Cider Club for a first glimpse of the nearly completed space.

We continued to secure media placements through the grand opening, and Blue Bee continued to build community partnerships.

Richmond's Scott's Addition neighborhood has become a hub for beverage producers ripe for collaboration. Blue Bee Cider approached these neighbor breweries to partner on a series of beers served only during the grand opening weekend.

In October, Blue Bee Cider hosted government officials, friends, family, and media for a toast. This Friday evening soft opening gave the team a chance to prepare for weekend crowds.

And there were crowds.

Live music, unveiling beer collaborations on the hour, and flowing cider taps made the opening Richmond's go-to event. We hired Spoken4's pedicab service to circle the neighborhood to bring brew hoppers to the cidery.

In total, Blue Bee Cider hosted 3,000 guests and charted record sales. The cidery continues to surpass sales projections - a buzzing success!