A 50-foot red chair, a sold-out concert and the lesson retail is teaching the whole industry

There's a question every company asks itself when opening a new space: how do you turn a store opening into an event that people talk about before, during and after it happens? XXXLutz, the world's second-largest furniture retailer, has just provided an answer worth studying for anyone who sells anything - whether it's furniture, wooden houses or forestry machinery.

In Rangsdorf, on the outskirts of Berlin, the Austrian company has not just built a new furniture store. It built an event. And that event, slated for February 27, 2026, is “closed house” more than a week before the set date.

The seat you can see from the highway

But let's take the story from the beginning. On the side of the B96 road, visible from a distance, sits a 50-foot-tall, 20-ton red chair. It's not a contemporary art installation. It's the visual signature of XXXLutz - an object that entered the Guinness Book of Records in 2004, when its first 30-meter version was erected in Nuremberg as the world's tallest chair.

The one in Rangsdorf was assembled from 30 components, with about 2,000 bolts, during a week of precision crane and specialist work. The rear leg alone weighs 3.8 tons. That's one way of saying: there's something serious going on here, and we don't fiddle with the details.

Next to that chair sprawls a 30,000-square-foot retail space - a showroom with everything from custom-planned sofas and kitchens to garden accessories, housewares and a restaurant with its own kitchen. But the official opening, scheduled for March 5, 2026, isn't the main subject of today's story.

When ribbon-cutting becomes concert, tasting and red carpet

The topic is what happens on February 27, a week before the actual opening. XXXLutz organized a „Pre-Shopping Event” - an exclusive evening, free of charge, but accessible by registration only. And here's where it gets interesting: all available seats are sold out.

What do participants get? Not just a visit to a furniture store with a pair of big scissors and a local politician. But a full event, with multiple layers of experience. Let's review, without exaggeration: An acoustic concert by The BossHoss Duo (Berlin country-rockers who conquered Germany), live culinary demonstrations with three top chefs - Johann Lafer, Alexander Herrmann (Michelin-starred chef) and Olaf Baumeister -, Woodland craft gin tasting (the most awarded gin in the world in 2018), a performance by artists, a DJ spinning the right music for relaxed shopping, red carpet at the entrance with all that that means, welcome drink, exclusive collections showcased alongside brand ambassadors, goodie bag on departure and - as a highlight - a raffle where the main prize is a full refund of the purchases made that evening.

The event is moderated by Marlene Lufen, one of Germany's best-known TV faces - presenter on SAT.1 and host of „Promi Big Brother”. It all takes place between 17:00 and 22:00, in a setting that combines retail with entertainment in a way that few would associate with a simple furniture store.

Why it's sold out and what that tells us

Here's where it's worth stopping and reflecting. A Pre-Shopping event at a furniture store, free of charge, with the house closed more than a week before. What happened?

The answer isn't about furniture, it's about community.

XXXLutz did not invite its audience to a commercial event. It invited an already existing community - loyal customers, newsletter subscribers, Freundschaftskarte (loyalty card) holders, app users - to an experience that gives them privileged access to something the rest of the world can't get to. And that makes all the difference.

The XXXLutz loyalty card, for example, is not just a discount tool. It's a passport to an ecosystem of benefits: annual bonuses based on accumulated purchases, free services, exclusive monthly deals, restaurant vouchers, birthday surprises, special raffles. Registration for the event was primarily open to those in the circuit. Basically, those who were present along the way - who downloaded the app, who subscribed to the newsletter, who chose to stay connected to a brand - were also those who had a ticket to the show.

The lesson for any business: community isn't built when you need it

It's a lesson that goes far beyond the furniture industry. In the world of wood, where a good proportion of sales are made at trade fairs and exhibitions - from LIGNA to DACH+HOLZ, from Holz-Handwerk to IMM cologne - the principle is the same: companies that invest in long-term relationships with their audience have a huge advantage when it comes time for a launch, an event or a campaign.

A wooden house manufacturer that maintains its newsletter subscriber list, a machinery manufacturer that posts constantly on LinkedIn, a flooring showroom that invites its customers to wine tastings and interior design workshops - all of these are building, over time, exactly what XXXLutz has capitalized on in Rangsdorf: a community that responds „present” when called upon.

And the difference between having a database of email addresses and having an active community is precisely what you offer in between the selling moments. Relevant content. Priority access. Real benefits. A sense of belonging to a group that gets more than the rest.

What's next in Rangsdorf

The store officially opens on March 5, 2026, with extended opening hours (10:00-20:00) for the first ten days and a special Sunday open house on March 8. The kitchen studio is already up and running - those interested can schedule a personalized consultation. The space includes a photovoltaic system that covers about half of energy consumption, smart LED lighting, digital price labeling and tablet-based interior planning.

But beyond the technical specifications, the story that remains is another: XXXLutz didn't just open a store outside Berlin. It proved that, in 2026, the difference between a grand opening and a memorable event lies in the quality of the relationship you have with your audience.

And that relationship isn't built in one night - it's built every day that you choose to be present, relevant and generous with your community.

XXXLutz is the world's second largest furniture retailer with over 400 stores in 14 European countries. The new space in Rangsdorf, near Berlin, opens on March 5, 2026.