# Can a local business get in trouble for keeping a GRAND OPENING sign up for years? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 6, 2017, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-local-business-get-in-trouble-for-keeping-a-grand-opening-sign-up-for-years/792894 "2017-08-06T05:50:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-local-business-get-in-trouble-for-keeping-a-grand-opening-sign-up-for-years/792894/1 "2017-08-06T05:50:37Z")
At least in my city, there’s a weird scam that every single local business does once it opens up. It gets a huge white banner that says GRAND OPENING and then underneath it advertises some special that is time limited due to the grand opening (10% off any piece of merchandise, buy a meal get a drink free, free trial) but the thing is the sign never goes down and often stays up until the store ultimately closes. The scam being, people go in thinking to take advantage of this exclusive deal only to realize it isn’t actually a deal as the prices are suitable shifted to make up for this. Can you get in trouble for false advertising in any way? ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-local-business-get-in-trouble-for-keeping-a-grand-opening-sign-up-for-years/792894/2 "2017-08-06T11:37:44Z")
In most places if the sign says going out of business and you stay open , that is illegal. But never heard of grand opening sign rules. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-local-business-get-in-trouble-for-keeping-a-grand-opening-sign-up-for-years/792894/3 "2017-08-06T12:11:55Z")
I’ve been living here for 49 and there is a Persian carpet store a couple miles away that has been going out of business for that entire time. Where I grew up that would have been illegal. ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-local-business-get-in-trouble-for-keeping-a-grand-opening-sign-up-for-years/792894/4 "2017-08-06T12:26:35Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I’ve been living here for 49 and there is a Persian carpet store a couple miles away that has been going out of business for that entire time. Where I grew up that would have been illegal. They’re going out of business slowly, just like a newborn baby is dying, even if the process takes ninety years. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-local-business-get-in-trouble-for-keeping-a-grand-opening-sign-up-for-years/792894/5 "2017-08-06T13:01:08Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I’ve been living here for 49 and there is a Persian carpet store a couple miles away that has been going out of business for that entire time. There was a store that I used to drive by in Dallas that had a “Liquidation Clearance Sale” sign up for years and years. It turns out they bought stuff from stores going out of business at a huge discount and sold it at a profit. That sign was okay because there were clearing out liquidated items. ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-local-business-get-in-trouble-for-keeping-a-grand-opening-sign-up-for-years/792894/6 "2017-08-06T14:12:40Z")
The name of the store is “Grand Opening.” Sort of like Grand Union, but with Opening. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-local-business-get-in-trouble-for-keeping-a-grand-opening-sign-up-for-years/792894/7 "2017-08-06T14:33:59Z")
We have a chain of furniture stores here that has an almost permanent sale. “BUY NOW - ends Sunday” the posters scream. It ends Sunday and starts again on Monday. They also have a crafty way of getting round the rules on “sale prices”. "_Retailers must not quote a before/after-sale or promotion price if they did not offer or do not intend to continue to offer identical products at that price for a reasonable time._. The law does not say that these full price items have to be in the same store, so every store has some furniture at the back at the full price - If you ask, they will tell you where that item can be found on sale. ---
**Author:** ![jaycat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat/32/3015_2.png) [@jaycat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jaycat)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-local-business-get-in-trouble-for-keeping-a-grand-opening-sign-up-for-years/792894/8 "2017-08-06T14:52:32Z")
> [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](#): > > The name of the store is “Grand Opening.” Sort of like Grand Union, but with Opening. There was a shop in these parts that sold ladies’ sex toys and such, called the “Grand Opening.” I thought that was pretty clever. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-local-business-get-in-trouble-for-keeping-a-grand-opening-sign-up-for-years/792894/9 "2017-08-06T15:50:00Z")
“Why do you call your store Grand Opening?” “You know all those stores with dollar in the name, where everything in the store costs one dollar?” “Yes.” “We’re like that except everything costs a thousand dollars.” ---
**Author:** ![igor\_frankensteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/839c29/32.png) [@igor\_frankensteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/igor_frankensteen)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-local-business-get-in-trouble-for-keeping-a-grand-opening-sign-up-for-years/792894/10 "2017-08-06T16:01:47Z")
Every law I’ve heard of that was trying to stop merchants from pulling stunts, failed for the simple reason that it takes only the slightest of changes to get around them. But I do remember with amusement, the day I first got my now ex-wife to finally realize that when someone advertises a SALE, in huge splashy letters, that doesn’t mean it’s discounted. Just that it is FOR SALE. The most hilarious thing about it, is that even though I know better myself, having been on the other side of the retail counter for many years, is that the larger the type face chosen for the word SALE, the more likely everyone is, to expect the prices to be extra low. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-local-business-get-in-trouble-for-keeping-a-grand-opening-sign-up-for-years/792894/11 "2017-08-06T16:15:43Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I’ve been living here for 49 and there is a Persian carpet store a couple miles away that has been going out of business for that entire time. Where I grew up that would have been illegal. We had a furniture store put up a Going Out of Business sign as part of their complaint about some freeway ramp work that was making it harder to reach their store. The sign drew in enough business that they stopped complaining and never took the sign down. They didn’t withdraw their complaint, they just stopped actively complaining. The road work’s been done for years. Apparently there are people willing to get off at the next ramp and drive back along the frontage road to look for bargains. ---
**Author:** ![Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/85e7bf/32.png) [@Hey\_Hey\_Paula](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hey_Hey_Paula)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-local-business-get-in-trouble-for-keeping-a-grand-opening-sign-up-for-years/792894/12 "2017-08-06T16:32:49Z")
There’s a store I drive by several times a week that has a huge sign out front reading “RE-GRAND OPENING!” :smack: And yes, that’s sign’s been up for the better part of a year. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-local-business-get-in-trouble-for-keeping-a-grand-opening-sign-up-for-years/792894/13 "2017-08-06T18:52:46Z")
We had a discount furniture store in town that would always have a “GOING OUT for BUSINESS” sale, usually about the time the college students were heading back to town. I guess they thought they could lure in some suckers that way. And then there is the odd case of our local Pier 1 store, which had a store closing sale for a few months several years ago. And it really did look like the store was closing – minimal inventory, they were selling off fixtures, etc. Then all of a sudden, the store was fully stocked and back in business! So I don’t know if corporate changed their mind or what happened, but they remained open another few years until earlier this year when they finally did close for reals. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2017, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-a-local-business-get-in-trouble-for-keeping-a-grand-opening-sign-up-for-years/792894/14 "2017-08-06T22:57:12Z")
The best sign I ever saw advertised prices that were “Below Discount!!!” (I assume they had no grasp of the difference between wholesale & discount.)