Being that I work for a restaurant furniture manufacturer, I keep my ear to the ground on all things “restaurant furniture”. Ok, that sounds pretty boring, but it is true – I do think about restaurant furniture a lot. And this particular story comes to mind.
Maybe five years ago, I was visiting relatives in Arizona. The subject of going out to eat came up, followed by the predictable debate of where our party of seven should dine. My wife and I didn’t know the town, so we stayed quiet, but the other five threw a few names into the hat.
The usual rebuttals were heard. Things like “I don’t feel like Italian” or “too far out of town for tonight” came up. But one place was shot down for what I thought was an interesting reason – the furniture.
Well, it wasn’t exactly put in that context, but the rebuttal was something like “The place is getting a little shabby, and I always feel crowded.”
It interested me that it wasn’t the food, the parking, the location or anything like that that led to a non-visit. It was the look of the place, and since how they felt crowded was also mentioned, it’s not hard for me to think the furniture was the main problem in this person’s mind, even if they didn’t exactly mention the furniture by name.
The title of this post alludes to where I feel restaurant furniture fits into the big picture. Nobody will come to your place directly because of the awesome furniture. Most people won’t even mention it, except to say “hey, the place looks great”. But the furniture will definitely work to keep people away. Shabby chairs, wobbling tables, ripped booths… they will all hurt you. That’s why it’s called “(non) marketing” in my blog title.
High quality, good looking, and comfortable restaurant furniture will go a long way in eliminating negative perceptions. It may not bring people through your doors in a direct sense (nobody says “yes, let’s go there because the booths are so darn comfortable!”), but letting your furniture go too long will certainly keep customers away, like it did my family one night in Arizona. And you don’t want to miss a shot at serving my Uncle Mike. Not only can he pack it away, but he tips awesome, too!
