Monday, February 1, 2010

Designing a Restaurant

A restaurant owner may know how to create a comfortable environment that welcomes customers time and time again. Yet, by making simple changes in this environment, you can not only increase repeat business, you can attract new customers and make more sales. Assistance is often needed to accomplish this goal so do not hesitate to hire an interior designer trained in aspects of environmental psychology. Simple changes in lighting, seating and background music can have tremendous benefits. The designer will be able to determine exactly works best for your restaurant.

Any interior designer will tell you that an inviting entrance draws in customers. This is their first impression of your restaurant and you want it to be a good one. Offer views of every portion of the restaurant, from the bar area to the dining area. Whenever possible, seat people close to the front of these areas so your restaurant will appear busy even when it is not. Seating is also important to many when choosing a restaurant. Ensure there is plenty of booth seating available as customers seem to prefer this. A physical structure, whether it be a wall, a window or a partition, helps the customer to feel that he has personal space. Research suggests that booth seating encourages guests to linger longer which may result in increased sales.

Lighting and music should be determined by the average age of your clientele. Younger people can tolerate more stimulation than older patrons. If you are looking to attract families, louder music and brighter lights will be appropriate. If those whose families have grown and gone are your expected clientele, add lighting to each individual table and ensure that there is a wall or other partition between tables or booths as this helps to mute noise. Music should also be kept at a lower level for these patrons.

An interior designer can also assist you in increasing customer turnover. This is the number of people you can serve in particular time frame. Upbeat music, 120 beats or more, will increase the speed of your servers. It will also decrease the length of a customer's stay. Freestanding tables also reduce time guests will spend at a table and distance between tables can increase server speed. Both can increase the number of customers you can seat in an hour. As you can see interior design is very important when planning a restaurant. Use this knowledge to your full advantage.

Restaurant Interior

Each design job is unique yet any qualified restaurant interior designer will follow a few basic steps. By ensuring that each step is completed properly, the designer can guarantee the work will be done right the first time and that you will be more than satisfied. By knowing what these steps are before you hire a designer or design firm, you will be able to ask informed questions and get someone who is qualified to handle the job.

First, your interior designer will come to your location to assess a few things. He will need to know the size of your building, any permanent fixtures which must be accommodated, and your feeling for the restaurant. Size will determine what can and cannot be included in the final design. Permanent fixtures will need to be accounted for in the design and your vision of the restaurant will give him a jumping off point. After completing this step, the designer will then proceed to draw up a few ideas with visuals for you to view. You can either choose one of these designs or show him what you like about each and what you don't like. Then he will have a better idea of what you are looking for and can come up with some new designs which incorporate these features.

Once an agreement has been reached between you and the interior designer on which plan to use, the work will begin. The working plans may need to be submitted to governmental authorities for approval. The designer and/or his firm will take care of this. If approval is granted, the work can begin. If not the designer will need to make any necessary adjustments and may need to work with you to alter the design to meet building codes. The first step after approval is to set up a schedule of work to be completed along with deadlines. Contractors will need to be hired and your interior designer will take care of this also.

Now that all workers are involved, a project manager will be assigned to the job. His main function will be to ensure all work is completely promptly and correctly. By having him on site any problems that come up can be dealt with immediately. An issue in one area can affect the whole job if not resolved quickly. The project manager does everything in his power to prevent these delays. He will continue on your project until all work is completed. If, when interviewing designers, they say they outsource any portion of this process or try to pawn anything off on you, look for someone else. You have enough to worry about getting other aspects of your business up and running, leave the interior designing to the pros.

Interior Design

The interior design of a restaurant is very important as it can draw customers in or it can make them never want to come back. Not only do you have to consider how to best draw in customers you also have to ensure the design allows for productivity of your employees. If the layout is poorly designed employees will need more time to complete regular activities which can lead to poor customer service. Don't leave this to chance. It may be best to hire a restaurant interior design firm to ensure you can meets the needs of your employees while giving your customers an atmosphere they cannot wait to return to.

When considering restaurant interior design and how it will affect your customers, the first rule to remember is that you cannot please everyone. Someone is going to walk in and not like the look of your restaurant and that is okay. As long as the majority of your customers are comfortable you will be fine. The easiest way to do this is to allow the interior to reflect your personal tastes. A combination of ambiance and good food will be sure to bring people back time and again.

The layout is also important in restaurant interior design. Kitchens should be designed in such a way that a number of people can work together comfortably without interfering with each other. Areas will need to be set aside for food storage, incoming shipments, and dishwashing as well as food preparation. Always allow room for expansion in the future as your goal is to grow your business. Two other areas that need to be focused on for employee satisfaction are the employee bathrooms and staff area. The restrooms for employees don't have to be attractive, just functional. Employees do not want to have to share with the customers and should not be forced to do so. The staff area is important for a similar reason. Your workers need somewhere to put their personal belongings and have a breather when things slow down. Make this comfortable, but don't go overboard as you don't want your employees spending too much time in this room.

When considering restaurant interior design that will affect the customers, there are many areas you need to take into account. Space is important in the dining area. Employees need to be able to move around between tables with ease and customers don't want to be sitting too close to other tables. Yet you need to balance this by taking into consideration that open areas can be overwhelming when the restaurant is not filled to capacity. Don't forget a cashier area placed discreetly by the door. Ensure this does not interfere with normal flow of traffic. By considering all of these things when designing your restaurant, you will be sure to have a layout that is pleasing to all.

Your Restaurant

When planning the layout of your restaurant, don't hesitate to hire an interior designer. Hiring a professional to assist you can increase your business and attract repeat customers. By creating an atmosphere that is compatible with the food you are serving people will feel welcomed into the restaurant. It may be as simple as adding filtered lights to provide a romantic glow or it may be as extensive as designing your restaurant around a theme. This is also beneficial if business is not as steady as you were expecting. The food may be perfect and the service may be great, but the ambiance of the restaurant can put people off from visiting again. An interior designer can help with this.

When you hire a professional, he will look at many things. First the interior designer will attempt to determine if the layout of your dining section is an asset or if it detracts from your menu in some way. If tables are too close together, people won't feel comfortable gathering for private conversations. Yet, if the tables are too far apart customers will wonder if there is a problem with either the service or the food. Also, be sure to include a bar area for those patrons who wish to cheer during a sporting event so other customers may not be disturbed.

Ambiance is another factor that an interior designer may wish to focus on. If you serve fancy French food that only an adult would love, you want an atmosphere that focuses on the romantic for couples. Yet, if you are serving all American food that families would enjoy, you want bright lights and fun wall decor. When the atmosphere conflicts with the food served, customers do not feel comfortable.

Function is an important part of any restaurant. This closely coincides with both the layout and the mood of the room. When considering function, you need to determine if your restaurant will attract families or if it will be a romantic getaway for couples. This is important to not only set the mood of the restaurant; it also helps you to design a layout that meets the needs of your clientele. With a family restaurant, tables may be placed close together with just enough room for people to comfortably move around. If romance is the goal, tables will need to be spaced further apart as couples want to have a quiet conversation without worrying someone will overhear. An interior designer will need to know the primary function of your restaurant in order to create the perfect setting. As you can see there is a lot involved in designing a restaurant. Hiring a professional may be the smartest move you make.

Clothing Displays

Slatwall is an excellent way of displaying your wares in a retail business, as it is both easy to use, easy to replace and easy to modify. It can be employed to display a huge range of goods, from sporting equipment to jewellery, via toys and crockery, and for a relatively low price, so it is highly recommended for shops selling almost any type of equipment. However, one of the most effective ways of using slatwall is to display clothing, as even though clothing and footwear comes in a vast array of shapes and sizes, slatwall's adaptability can be utilised to its full effect to show off all such goods.

Slatwall comes in a variety of different styles, both full- and half-panels, which can be used either to fit bars to display shirts, trousers or jackets on clothes hangers; or even shelving to make attractive wall displays of shoes and trainers. Furthermore, the fittings come in a variety of colours and finishes, which gives retailers a huge range of choice in picking out their ideal type of fitting, ensuring that they can design their dream store. Whether they are looking to create a stylish boutique or a shop capable of withstanding a daily deluge of customers, slatwall can be the perfect fitting to ensure you have the shop you want.

For example, you could just go for a simple form of slatwall, using cream, grey or white panels, which will only set you back around twelve pounds sixty a panel. These are not the prettiest or most exciting panels, but they are useful, cheap and fully functional - on the other hand, they will not draw attention away from clothing on sale, allowing the goods to do the talking.

Yet, at the same time, a shop selling an excellent array of high-quality clothing shouldn't really have much problem shifting their goods, so you may want to spend a little more money to ensure that your shop looks as good as it possibly can. Therefore, depending on what type of clothing you are selling, you might want to go for a classy look for your slatwall, or brighter, more vibrant panelling for a trendier store or children's clothing shop.

So let's first have a look at an upscale boutique, perhaps something selling designer clothing or suits - what kind of slatwall would fit into such an establishment? Well, you could go for wood effect panelling, which is both clean, classy and will fit in beautifully to an upmarket establishment. However, such panelling will not come cheaply. Expect to pay around thirty five pounds for each panel - of course, while this may seem a little wasteful for normal clothes, designer gear or suits should be displayed both prominently and tastefully, so it is worth investing a little extra.

For younger, trendier shops, you can buy some colourful slatwall - it comes in either blue or green for thirty seven pounds eighty, or yellow for forty nine pounds. Yes, it may be even more expensive than wood effect panelling, but it could well help shift clothes - it will be easy to catch people's attention in both trendy boutiques and children's clothing stores. Simple, but true.

So while slatwall may seem like just a series of panels, it has both the versatility and range to display items of clothing either tastefully, prominently or in a way to catch the attention.