7 Ways Booth Seating Can Make Your Restaurant More Inviting

Booth seating can boost your profit margin, and make your restaurant a more inviting place for all types of customers. 

Read on to discover seven ways that restaurant booths and banquettes may entice your clientele:

1. Flexible seating capacity - booths typically allow four people to sit comfortably. However, groups of five or six can easily be accommodated in a pinch, either by adding chairs to the booth end or by getting cozy with one another on the provided benches.

2. An intimate dining experience - booth seating creates the effect of a barrier between guests in your restaurant, allowing them to carry on private conversations and enjoy each other's company, even with a full house.

3. Greater payoff per table - studies have shown that patrons who sit in booths tend to spend more per visit. Take, for example, this study finding published 3 January 2012: "Customer checks revealed that patrons in booth seating spent an average of $56.67, while customers who sat at freestanding tables spent an average of $38.92." That difference can really add up at day's end.

4. More patrons per square foot of space - due to their ability to go back-to-back, restaurant booths actually have an overall smaller footprint than a table-and-chairs configuration. Also, there's no need to take into account the additional space needed to pull out chairs or walk between them. Customers with disabilities will find that they can easily be seated at the booth's end, ensuring that your business is taking steps toward ADA compliance.

5. Kid-friendly dining experience - booths give parents the ability to confine children between adults, as well as provide the extra space needed for kids to wiggle, squirm, and expend excess energy. Kids are often more comfortable sitting on the padded benches as opposed to on chairs that are adult-sized, and high chairs can easily be added to the end of a booth.

6. Creative layouts - booths and banquettes can be arranged in a variety of ways, such as:

• perpendicular to a wall, with tables and chairs in the center of the room
• floating in the center of the room, with open ends on both sides
• lining the backs of the banquettes along a wall, which creates an open seating style
• use the finished backs of the banquettes to make a room divider or an isle within your floor space

7. Custom designs - restaurant booths are often custom made to your specifications. Booth seating can be basic, high-end, or somewhere in the middle. Variations include upholstery, wood stains, trim options, and style of the booth itself. Contract Furniture  Company offers fully customizable, made-to-order, affordable booth seating that's made in the USA - check us out!

Style CH6

Style BTB

Style HR3

The New Year Brings New Commercial Restaurant Furniture To Our Site

Contract Furniture Company is pleased to announce some new additions to our website.

 

Aluminum Patio - Restaurant Furniture

Jupiter Arm Chair

Jupiter Side Chair

Jupiter II Arm Chair

Lauderdale Arm Chair

Lauderdale Side Chair

Miami Arm Chair

Miami Bar Stool

Miami Table

Outdoor Wicker Restaurant Furniture

Savannah Arm Chair

Seattle Arm Chair

Seattle Side Chair

Seattle Bar Stool

It's Easy Being Green: Strategies For Making Your Business Eco-Friendly

"The only way forward, if we are going to improve the quality of the environment, is to get everybody involved. "
~ Richard Rogers

Now, more than ever, customers are likely to seek out businesses that care about their impact on the environment. "Consumers want to know that businesses they patronize are not operating purely for profit, but are also taking care of their community." (Restaurant Hospitality, 26 December 2012) Discussed below are some simple changes that will not only "green" your business, but may also garner you additional customers. 

Creative Ways To Become More Eco-Friendly:

• Use bamboo plywood, poles, paneling, etc. As restaurant owner Phil Sciortino says, "Chop down a tree and it takes 50 years to regenerate. Bamboo grows back in six months."
• Be done with paper - programs such as the web-based Schedulefly allow you to schedule and communicate with staff electronically.
• Use compostable, sustainable, and biodegradable packaging. Companies like Bio-Pak, Be Green Packaging, ECOTAINERs, and Fabri-Kal Greenware offer products for just about every business.
• Forgo plastic cutlery. WNA Comet's EcoSense line of flatware offers biodegradeable and recyclable forks, knives, and spoons.
• Use reclaimed furniture from churches, schools, and other businesses instead of buying new. In many cases you can get a great deal on items that others no longer have need for.
• Invest in solar-power, low-flow toilets, on-demand (tankless) water heaters, and energy-saving lighting.

and last, but not least ...

• Purchase commercial grade furniture that is made from recycled plastic that would otherwise end up as landfill waste. Here are some of the top in the industry:

Resin Wood Composite Outdoor Furniture

Polywood Resin Outdoor Furniture

Emeco High End Recycled Furniture

Emeco Recycled Outdoor Furniture

With all of these tips and product suggestions, your business should find it easy to be "green".

Q: Do you have any environmentally friendly products or practices to recommend? 

     We'd love to hear from you.

City Center on 6th - Koreatown, Los Angeles, CA.

Just a quick note of thanks to the people over at City Center on 6th in Los Angeles, for sharing their installation photos with us.

Shown: Maya side chair and 200 Series table base

 

Shown: Aluminum market umbrella and Cambi table

 

You can view additional photos on our Pinterest page:

10 Emerging Food Trends For 2013 - #trendalert

Each year, a company called Publicis is called upon to forecast upcoming trends. In their own words, "The one constant in this world is change. You can either adapt to change, ignore it or lead it."

With that motto in mind, let's take a look at their Top 10 food predictions for 2013:

1. Coffee demand will increase - there has been quite a bit of research on the health benefits of coffee in the news recently, and a 100%+ growth in the single-serve coffee category.
2. Preserved foods revival - fermented, cured, pickled, and brined foods are increasingly showing up on menus and on grocery store shelves. 
3. Healthy alternatives for old favorites - salt alternatives, natural no-calorie sweeteners (monk fruit, anyone?), and healthier types of fats are being used by chefs nationwide.
4. Boxed wine is on the rise - because it offers savings in shipping costs and packaging, and eliminates the risk of oxidation that corked wine carries, high-quality wine producers are likely to jump on the boxed wine bandwagon.
5. Virtual food sharing will continue to grow - with social media sites like Pinterest (where food pins outweigh all other categories of pins), Taste Spotting, and Food Gawker, foodies can share their recipes, favorite dishes, and food fantasies.
6. Food facts on labels - consumer demand for transparency in food labeling is higher than ever. People will continue to push for full ingredient disclosure and GMO information.
7. Protein-enriched snack foods - the way people eat has changed through the years. Says Technomic, "Americans are now more inclined to ‘graze’ throughout the day, seeking snacks that provide fuel between traditional meal parts.” Look for an influx of protein-fortified bars, drinks, and snack foods.
8. Bitter is better - often a hallmark of foods containing antioxidants, bitterness adds a level of complexity to foods and beverages. Found naturally in plant-based, whole foods, bitter is a flavor that consumers will seek as they move toward healthier eating in general.
9. Casual dining is preferred - with the popularity of food trucks and gourmet street food, formal sit-down dining is on the decline. A casual dining atmosphere - even if it comes at a higher price point - is what customers will seek in 2013.
10. Crazy for coconut - everyone from health food proponents to workout-aholics are in the know about the beneficial properties of coconut. It contains natural electrolytes to replenish the body, and has a wealth of beneficial properties (as any Google search will tell you).

Go Bravely Forth Into 2013!

Is Your Business ADA Compliant?

In business, it's simply good practice not to make people feel excluded from your establishment. But are you unknowingly turning customers away?

 

54 million - This is the number of Americans who have a disability, according to the 2008 American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Government Census.

By age, this breaks down to:

• 5 % of children 5 to 17 have disabilities (or, 1 in 20)
• 10 % of people 18 to 64 have disabilities. (or, 1 in 10)
• 38 % of adults 65 and older have disabilities. (or, roughly 2 in 5)

The best way to ensure that you are meeting the needs of every customer is to familiarize yourself with the ADA guidelines for your type of business:

ADA Requirements Checklist - Restaurants
ADA Requirements Checklist - Hotels
ADA Requirements Checklist - Retail Stores
ADA Requirements Checklist - Existing Facilities
ADA Requirements Checklist - New Lodging Facilities

And don't forget, some of your employees may need special accommodations, too:

ADA Requirements Checklist - Employees 


Some people find it difficult to anticipate what a disabled person might need, or even how to properly interact with a disabled personm which is why you might find this helpful:

7 Steps For Making Your Customers With Disabilities 

Feel Welcome     

With a little research and possibly some modifications, your business can become a place where each customer feels valued, respected, and welcome. And isn't that how we'd all like to feel?

 

 

Caribe Resort - Orange Beach, Alabama

When your thoughts turn to getting away from it all, a place to consider is the Caribe Resort in Orange Beach, AL.

The blue waters of the Caribe resort pool, and our Bahia chaise lounge.

The resort is family-friendly!

We appreciate the opportunity to provide the resort with our commercial chaise lounges - and we're pleased that they chose to add the chaise lounge cushions with hood to ensure their guests' maximum comfort.

5 Ways Business As Usual Might Change in 2013

Want to remain competitive in 2013? Read these predictions for the coming year that could make or break your business if you don't plan accordingly.

1) Reverse outsourcing will increase
A key issue in the recent presidential elections was the unemployment rate. Well, businesses are taking notice as well as taking steps to alleviate this condition - jobs are coming back to the U.S. Even major companies such as Apple and SeaMicro have announced plans to manufacture at least some of their goods in America.

2) You need to take reputation management seriously
Social networks are a double-edged sword - they provide a wide network of communication that may be used to the advantage or the disadvantage of a business. One way to keep on top of your company's online reputation is to set up Google Alerts. These alerts are viewable via Google Reader, which is an organized feed reader of every alert you’re subscribed to. You can click between different alerts and star certain ones for bookmarking, as well as share specific alerts via Google+ or email.

 3) Adobe Flash will go the way of the Dodo bird
Flash content can bog down your site, making it difficult for those with a slow internet connection or who are using a mobile device. However, HTML5 can transmit rich content to devices without the compatibility issues that arise with Flash, which is why it will soon begin to replace Adobe Flash for animations, movies, and numerous other applications. Get in the know about HTML5, now!

4) Email is becoming obsolete
As businesses make the switch to more instantaneous communication methods with their customers - like LiveChat, which we've raved about in the past - email is slowly becoming too, well ... slow. And business-to-business dealings are more frequently being conducted through Instant Messaging, Skype calls, and Google hangouts. Adios, email!

5) R.I.P. fax machines, it's been a good run
The main reason that fax machines are still with us? We haven't figured out how to make digital signatures legit in legal and real estate transactions. That's where a brilliant solution like DocuSign comes into play - you can send, sign and save documents anywhere, on any device,  and DocuSigned documents are legally binding. Sorry fax machines, your day of reckoning has arrived.