When it comes to figuring out what separates the successful restaurants from the ones that crash and burn, a bunch of different viewpoints start to crop up. Some people claim that it’s the food that’s at the heart of this matter, and that holds true to a certain extent. Others would say that making your restaurant an exclusive place to eat by only allowing a select few in would be a greater way to maximize your profits.
However, if there is one thing that can become a surefire tool in your path to success, it is creating a welcoming atmosphere. This is what will make customers feel right at home, and your restaurant furniture will be a core component of this vibe for the most part. To put it plainly, you can really enhance the vibe and make it thoroughly welcoming and cozy so long as you use your furniture correctly, so the only question left for you to ask is how you can accomplish this task.
It all starts with choosing furniture that is of the right shade. Studies have shown that brighter colors attract a higher quantity of foot traffic, so you might want to buy furniture that uses bold primary colors to get its message across.
Don’t take this to mean that muted hues will drive customers away, though. It’s all just a matter of creating consistency in all of your décor, and anyone that’s experimented in this regard would agree! Basically, whatever furniture you do end up buying needs to be able to complement all of the other parts of your aesthetics, so as long as you avoid clashing colors you’ll do just fine.
It is also important to address the seating arrangements that you can use. Generally speaking, spacious seating arrangements can seem a lot less intimidating to customers, and there are several ways for you to make things seem roomier!
Firstly, you can try using a combination of booths and tables. This allows you to keep the center of your eatery clear and free. All of the seating will be available along the sides of your restaurant, so customers can simply sidle up to the walls and get seated while they wait for a server to come over and take your order.
This has the added benefit of giving your waiters enough room to zip to and from tables. The path to the kitchen where they will present the order to the cooking staff can be rather treacherous if there are several tables and chairs in their way, which makes it quite clear that empty centers are the key to a welcoming vibe at least in these specific circumstances.
However, what are you supposed to do if you are running the type of restaurant that won’t be served all that well by booths and the like? You can’t just shove booths into an haute cuisine establishment after all. Customers who go to these types of places are understandably adamant that they be seated at proper tables, which can pose a real issue when you are attempting to boost space.
You will inevitably need to have at least a few tables populating the center region of your dining area, and that might make it seem like comforting, spacious vibes will be utterly out of your reach. The thing is, you can circumvent this potential obstacle with one choice: buying lightweight furniture.
You see, lighter furniture has the advantage of being easy to move. If customers walk in and see empty spaces in the center, they will be less likely to get overwhelmed. In case there aren’t any free tables or seats available, your employees can bring some out from the storage closet so that they can be served without any delay.
Lightweight furniture gives you a lot of flexibility in your seating arrangements. When all of the tables and chairs are brought out and the space starts to get cramped, chances are that your restaurant is at peak capacity. This makes it less necessary to be welcoming, since you wouldn’t be able to cater to any new customers for an hour or so.
Now, we have another tip that you can use with lightweight furniture that can do you a world of good. Basically, you need to try to leave at least two or three empty tables in the dining area. Customers that enter to make a reservation will notice that some spaces are free, and that would lead to them wanting to get one as soon as they can.
The small quantity of free seating areas can put a lot of pressure on customers to make their decision quickly, and as long as the rest of the vibe is up to their standards, this decision will invariably fall into your favor.
We would also like to talk about the role that lighting can play in these choices. If you are opting for more naturalistic lighting such as solar rays that enter through wide windows, you need to buy furniture that has wooden tones such as cream, off white and the like. Artificial lighting is usually better served by darker colors that can absorb the light.
Creating an open, warm space that is perfected based on the type of lighting you are using can be instrumental to your efforts to welcome customers with open arms. We would advise you to purchase a varied set of tables and chairs so that you can bring out whichever ones the needs of the moment require.
Whether you go for metal, wood or plastic chairs, arranging them the right way instead of crowding them all into one spot can really enhance the comforting nature of their visuals. Simply put, the way you use your furniture is intrinsically tied to how it will make your customers feel.
