0 an occasion when a business is opened for the first time, but only to a limited number of people at first:
The public opening was announced in full-page newspaper ads, creating the anomaly of either two official openings or an advertised soft opening.
However, the village held an unofficial soft opening a week earlier.
Following the soft opening television commercials began advertising the ride.
Ride testing began in early 2012 with soft openings the following spring.
Soft openings are traditionally done in the retail business to test systems and store staff, and prepare for a larger grand opening.
