Blog posts from July, 2013

Day 52—July 30, 2013

It’s been over fifty days since we set up a 4-foot NES Rectangular Plastic Folding Table and a 4-foot NES Rectangular Wood Folding Table outside to test the effects of the elements on our tables. When we looked in on the tables on June 22, we saw that the wood table was starting to bubble at the edge with the layers starting to pull apart while the plastic table had not deteriorated at all. It’s been over a month, and the Toronto area has had really hot weather, days with copious amounts or rain, humidity in the 80-90% range, and cloudy days with temperatures in the low 20s. So how are the tables holding up?

July 30-Wide Shot of Wood Folding Table Layers Peeling	July 30-Close-Up of Wood Folding Table Layers Peeling

As you can see from the pictures of the wood folding table, the layers of the plywood have begun completely separating with the top layer curling as it detaches from the layers below. The tabletop has been discoloured as it absorbs moisture from the rain and from the high humidity. The metal hardware on the table has not begun to rust and the powder-coated table legs are still in great condition.

July 30-Plastic Folding Table and Wood Folding Table	July 30-Mud-Splattered Leg on Plastic Folding Table

The plastic table has not been damaged by its time out in the elements. The table top is in the same condition it was in when we set the tables up for this experiment. All it would take is a quick wipe with a wet cloth before the plastic folding table would be usable again. And as you can see from the picture, the powder-coated legs have not been damaged at all, and simply need a wipe to remove the mud that has splattered on them from the rain.

The separation we noted 14 days into the experiment is spreading quicker than I thought it would. It is still mainly concentrated around the edges where the PVC edging has been attached. It is clear that the clear coat is helping to protect the wood, but the longer the table remains exposed to the elements, the more likely it is to be damaged by moisture infiltration. We are going to keep the tables up and continue monitoring them for further damage as the summer progresses.

It’s hard to believe that July is almost over. It seems like just yesterday that we were bundling up against the cold and using road salt for something other than showing how strong our wood and plastic tables are. While July may be gone, there is still a month of summer left. There is still a month of sitting on the patio at your favourite pub, bar, bistro, or restaurant, drinking cold beer and enjoying the dying sunlight at the end of a long day. Yes, my friends, August is still to come! And if you’ve been dealing with rain, or other inclement weather, there is still a chance to make your patio a glorious destination for those who seek nothing more than to savour every moment of a fleeting summer.

Back in Stock: Bistro Chairs

It always seems that we’re short an item as summer hits its stride and this year is no exception. After a bit of a slow start, we managed to completely sell out of our White Bistro Chairs. When we realised we were going to run out of the perfect chair for patios and outdoor events, we got on the horn and ordered a container to be shipped to us tout suite! And make no mistake; they are the perfect chair for the patio. They’re incredibly comfortable and incredibly strong, perfect for lazy days tipping back a few brews. Unlike patio chairs that you can pick up at any big box store, these chairs won’t buckle or collapse when a larger customer takes a seat. And with their curved and textured seat, your customers can sit in comfort while they peruse your menus. Our NES Reliable Bistro Chairs come in black or white and ship from our Toronto Warehouse. They are priced at $19.95/ea and go down in price with volume.

Beer Glasses

If you’re in the rental business, it can be tough to find beer glasses that have attractive prices and don’t require beer goggles to get past the ugly. Luckily, National Event Supply has you covered. In our Eclisse line we have two different sizes of Beer Glass that would be perfect for any event that you may be hosting. Our 12oz Beer Glass is almost 7 inches tall with a nice thick base to prevent tipping. We also have a 14oz Beer Glass that has a bit of a stem and a bowl a bit like a wineglass. One might call it chalice shaped if one were a bit pretentious. Our 12oz Beer Glasses are $1.75/ea and our 14oz Beer Glasses are $1.85/ea.

Ribs are Nice, Steak with all the Fixin’s is Nicer

In a previous blog article, Jonathan showed off his barbequing prowess with some gorgeous BBQ Ribs. When he showed me the pictures of those succulent ribs with that spicy sauce sizzling over a low fire, the sugars carmelizing… I wanted them. It didn’t matter that it was 9am—those ribs looked like a little piece of heaven.

I went home and thought about it and decided that I needed to see if I could surpass his barbequing skills. Behold the fruits of my labour! Beautiful, thick rib-eye steaks; twice baked potatoes overloaded with cheese, chives, and goodness; and some fresh corn, grilled to enhance its flavour. This glorious meal was served on our Angelika Dinnerware, and was followed by a tangy key-lime pie.

Enjoy Summer, My Friends!

It may be hot. It may be sticky. Highways may be crammed with cars and constantly being repaired. But in 6 months when winter has taken hold of the country and the Christmas decorations are being put away for another year, you’ll miss summer. You’ll miss laughing with friends on the patio; drinking ice-cold margaritas on hot, humid days; and the feeling you get when the sun beats down on your face. Enjoy summer, my friends. And if you need some bistro chairs for your patio, or beer glasses for an event, don’t hesitate to drop us a note.

Getting into porcelain dinnerware can be an expensive proposition for catering and party rental businesses as well as restaurants. You have to be ready for the additional labour required to prepare dinnerware for rental (or for service) and it can cost a pretty penny to get the equipment necessary to keep your plates clean and looking their best. And then there is the cost of the dishes themselves. Some large distributors charge $20-30 for commercial grade porcelain dinner plate. Add side plates, dessert plates, teacups, and saucers—the costs quickly add up. So what are some ways for you to make sure you get dinnerware that will last and make your porcelain expansion a success?

1) Stick with the Classics

Fads come and fads go, as anyone who had an avocado-coloured fridge can tell you. Investing in a plain white set of dishes may sound boring, but buying dinner plates in this year’s colour can quickly date your inventory and lead to decreased rentals as other colours become popular. In addition, because trendy colours do fade in popularity, you need to charge higher prices to recoup your investment before the trend changes. Your customers may want the trendy colour, but may not want to pay the price for it. If you’re just starting out in dinnerware, you want to start with something simple and as your dish business grows, you can expand into areas where you are seeing demand.

2) What are replacement dishes going to cost me?

When you set out to purchase a large quantity of dinnerware, suppliers may be willing to offer you a tremendous discount to go with their line. The question to ask is what will it cost me to replace a dinner plate. You’re likely to find that your supplier won’t be offering any discount on replacements. Breakage is a fact of life with porcelain, and replacing damaged plates can quickly eat up any profits that you may have made. When investing in a line of dinnerware, you should determine what your replacement costs will be and budget for replacing a portion of your dinnerware each year.

3) Know what you’re buying

Not all porcelain dinnerware is created equally. Additives can be added to Porcelain to increase the strength of the dish was well as reduce its susceptibility to chipping. One porcelain additive that does that is aluminum oxide. Aluminum Oxide mixed in with the porcelain before molding and firing will make the porcelain stronger, more chip resistant, and therefore better suited to a commercial environment. Some porcelain also has design feature like rolled rims which also reduces the chances of a plate chipping.

National Event Supply has several porcelain dinnerware lines that are perfect for those looking to get into the dinnerware business. One that we highly recommend is our Hotelier Line.

On Wednesday, National Event Supply attended Tim's Rent-All and Tim's Party Centre 40th anniversary celebration in Bowmanville.

The event kicked off at 11am with a small trade show for Tim's customers involved in the trades. Tim's Rent-All set up tents around the property with NES Reliable Plastic Folding Tables and NES Reliable Plastic Folding Chairs inside for suppliers to use to display their offerings. Suppliers brought tools, equipment, and party supplies for attendees to look at, use, and become educated about the products available (all of which are of course available to rent or purchase at Tim's Rent-All). It was a beautiful sunny day with a scorching high of 35C (feels like 46C), in the middle of Toronto’s second extreme heat alert of the season. To help keep everyone hydrated Tim’s Rent-All had drinks set up all around the property to ensure everyone enjoyed the day safely. At around 12 noon the suppliers and attendees were welcomed to a BBQ lunch with hot dogs, hamburgers, and homemade sausages that were hot off the grill, along with platter of veggies and a variety of drinks served out of a Fill 'N' Chill Party Table (available in both Toronto and Vancouver National Event Supply locations). Everyone did their best to stay cool until 3pm when the tradeshow portion of the party concluded.

At 5pm everyone was invited back for a dinner in a beautifully decorated 40x80 tent. The tent featured more National Event Supply product including our NES Reliable Round Plastic Folding Tables, NES Reliable White Resin Folding Chairs, and Quadrato Dinnerware. Before supper, everyone enjoyed cocktails around NES Reliable Tall Plastic Folding Cocktail Tables and NES Reliable Folding Bar Chairs. After the cocktails, we all sat down for a great meal of smoked meat, and a variety of salads including pasta salad, mixed greens with a raspberry vinaigrette, and a delicious broccoli salad. At the end of the meal Tim’s Rent-All revealed a specially made cake that looks just like their building in Downtown Bowmanville! And yes, the cake was excellent also.

Tim's Party Centre Tradeshow Set-up	Tim's 40th Anniversary Outside Tent	Tim's 40th Anniversary Party Meat Smoker
Tim's 40th Anniversary Party Inside of Tent	Tim's 40th Anniversary Party Fill 'n' Chill Tables	Tim's 40th Anniversary Party Table Top Settings

We would all like to say a big congratulation’s to Tim’s Rent-All for 40 years of success! We look forward to working with you for many more years to come. And if you're interested in any of the products mentioned above, why not drop our sales reps a line?

One of the most common questions that we get asked at National Event Supply is how long will it take to get my order? This of course varies dramatically by your location relative to where the order is shipping from as well as the shipping method. Since the shipping method can have such a huge impact on the delivery time, today I am going to provide you with a guideline for our most cost effective LTL (less than truckload) shipments. This is the most common method that we use when you purchase many of our larger products including plastic folding tables, plastic folding chairs, wood folding tables, resin folding chairs, Chiavari chairs, and when you place a larger order for porcelain. It is additionally important to remember that major centers enjoy faster delivery than most secondary points, especially if our carrier needs to hand the shipment off to a smaller local carrier. When our carrier needs to do a hand-off it will take a minimum of 1 additional business day before the order is delivered to your location by the local carrier. It is additionally important to note that these are estimates only and delivery can be effective by factors outside of our control like the weather.

We'll start by looking at the transit times from Toronto, and then the transit times from Vancouver. So what are the approximate LTL transit times for orders shipping from our Mississauga, ON (Toronto) location?

• Victoria, BC—6-7 Business Days
• Vancouver, BC—5-6 Business Days
• Edmonton, AB—5-6 Business Days
• Calgary, AB—5-6 Business Days
• Saskatoon, SK—5-6 Business Days
• Regina, SK—5-6 Business Days
• Winnipeg, MB—4-5 Business Days
• Sudbury, Hamilton, London, Windsor, the Greater Toronto Area, Peterborough, Belleville, and Kingston, ON – 1-2 Business Days
• Ottawa, ON—1-2 Business Days
• Montreal, QC—1-2 Business Days
• Quebec City, QC—2-3 Business Days
• Saint John, NB—2-4 Business Days
• Moncton, NB—2-4 Business Days
• Charlottetown, PEI—2-4 Business Days
• Halifax, NS—2-4 Business Days
• Sydney, NS—3-5 Business Days
• St. John’s, NF—6-7 Business Days
• Corner Brook, NF—6-7 Business Days

Shipping from Vancouver of course gives different transit times, most of which are much faster for the western provinces. We currently stock most sizes of our Plastic Folding Tables, Wood Folding Tables, and a variety of Chairs in Delta, BC at our third party warehouse. This location in the Vancouver metro area not only allows for faster deliveries, it can also dramatically reduce the cost of shipping. So what are the approximate LTL transit times for orders shipping from our Delta, BC (Vancouver) third party warehouse location?

• Victoria, BC—1-2 Business Days
• Duncan, BC—1-3 Business Days
• Nanaimo, BC—1-2 Business Days
• Courtenay, BC—1-3 Business Days
• Comox, BC—1-3 Business Days
• Campbell River, BC—1-3 Business Days
• North Vancouver, Vancouver, Burnaby, Surrey, Delta, New Westminster, Richmond, Langley, Whistler and Coquitlam, BC—1-2 Business Days
• Kelowna, BC—1-2 Business Days
• Kamloops, BC—1-2 Business Days
• Penticton, BC—1-2 Business Days
• Calgary, AB—2-3 Business Days
• Medicine Hat, AB—3-4 Business Days
• Lethbridge, AB—3-4 Business Days
• Red Deer, AB—3-4 Business Days
• Edmonton, AB—2-3 Business Days

Image courtesy of Sula Nualpradid / FreeDigitalPhotos.net