Placing an order for restaurant furniture is big on the to-do list when it comes to opening or remodeling a restaurant, so how do you know when you’re ready?
There are five criteria you need to have figured out to successfully order your restaurant furniture without making costly errors. Hashing these out will help you choose the right design, the right size and amount, and set the right expectations for when the furniture will arrive at your location.
Are you ready to place your order? Let’s find out!
Concept Theme Ideas
You don’t need to have table three’s artwork picked out, but you do need a general design idea that will help you select your furniture items. If your restaurant has a specific theme, it may be easier to choose furniture that will match versus an establishment that hasn’t sorted that out yet. For example, if your restaurant is going to have a rustic industrial theme, incorporating a lot of metal and distressed wood, you’re going to want furniture that reflects that and not traditional wood seating. Having a concept or theme in mind will help you select the furniture, whether it be seating, tables, or booths, that go with your vision and will look right in the finished layout.
The Size of the Space You’re Trying to Fill
Measurements are key! Knowing the space you’re earmarking for dining is crucial to selecting the size of tables or booths that fit in your layout and support the amount of seats you want to offer. It will also help you to steer clear of bulkier furniture if you don’t have the room for it. Pay attention to footprints of bar stools and widths on booths to avoid purchasing furniture that pushes your spatial limits a little too much. This will help you get the most out of your square footage! In conjunction with how many seats you need, you can fill your space with furniture without running out of room.
Quantity of Seats
How many people are you trying to sit in your restaurant? Once you know how many patrons you can safely accommodate on your busiest day, you can use this number to identify the number of seats you need. This number of seats can be broken down into chair/bar stool seats, bench seats, or booth seating depending on how you want to get to your desired seat goal.
Your Restaurant’s Timeline
Setting expectations and being realistic about your timeframe for needing furniture is very important when ordering. If you’re on the hunt for custom-built furniture, you’ll need to order sooner rather than later to leave space for the production time. These items, which can include booths, outdoor patio furniture, tables, and even seats, require a longer lead time because they are completely custom. Whether you’re in a time crunch or not, it’s always a good idea to check stock or current lead/production times for the items you want to purchase prior to placing your order. Checking prior to your order can set your expectations for the requested items or even lead to you changing some of the products to get them in a quicker lead time. We recommend ordering at least three to four months before you plan on using your furniture, which will give you some peace of mind that your order is in the works.
How Shipping Works
Receiving an LTL shipment is likely different than what you’re used to when ordering items online, so it’s important to know how your furniture will be arriving. When it’s delivery day, you will need to have at least a few people present to receive the order from the truck as they will need to go into the truck and unload the order. If you do not purchase a liftgate (which is an added service that lowers the pallets to the ground), you’ll want to schedule extra help to unload as most LTL carriers will only give you so long to unload your order.
We use LTL freight shipping for almost every furniture order that leaves our warehouse. This rate is created with a combination of the items’ weight, items’ size, destination, and type of destination. You can get a freight quote for your order prior to or after it is placed, either way you will need to approve the quote before the order can move forward. Learn more about getting a freight quote here.
Nailing down these five criteria before you place your restaurant furniture order will make it so much easier to select your furniture and confidently purchase. Without having an idea of your concept, space and size, time frame, and how shipping works, buying furniture will be a harder process than it needs to be. Keeping these must-knows in mind will make for a smooth as possible experience, and help you check this off your opening/remodel list that much faster!
Need assistance placing your restaurant furniture order? Our customer care team would love to help! Give them a call at 800-986-5352 or use the chat function on our website when available.
