Blog posts from February, 2016

There are a number of sources I tend to turn to when I need information on special events – BizBash Magazine, Special Events Magazine, InTents Magazine, the American Rental Association, and the Canadian Rental Association are just a few that are my go-tos. The American Rental Association has a fantastic Rental Market Monitor that includes quarterly forecasts in Construction and Industrial Equipment, General Tool and Party and Event categories. They also provide further analysis into the Canadian versus United States rental markets. This is a helpful tool that we use to identify market trends and forecast when to expand our business. While the rental market monitor relies on a common analytical framework using a combination of expertise, models, data and software, Special Events Magazine and BizBash tends to get market information directly from party rental companies – who live and breathe the trends on a daily basis.

Special Events Magazine recently released an article summarizing their recent survey findings from the special events industry with good news. “80% of the respondents surveyed forecast strong business this year – predicting they will handle more events than they did in 2015”. Not only was this forecast stated, but the greatest challenges facing rental operations in 2016 as well as the top strategies rental operators are going to use to adapt to the 2016 rental marketplace were also mentioned. Head over to the Party Rental Forecast 2016 to read more of the fascinating findings.

Restaurant rewards programs are extremely effective and hold importance in the opinion of customer’s. Estimates state that an appealing rewards program would increase a consumer’s restaurant visit rate by an average of 35% (Loyalogy) while 73% of consumers would recommend a restaurant with an appealing rewards program over others that do not (Loyalogy). Customer loyalty is an important metric restaurants need to track. In fact, just a 5% increase in customer loyalty would increase the average profit per customer by 25% – 100% (CityGro). That’s an astronomical number considering it is a well-known fact it costs way more money to attract new customers instead of retaining existing customers. I found this infographic that has a number of great tips on how to turn casual customers into your raving, fanatical evangelical following. Check it out below:

 

From Visually.

The 2016 Restaurants Canada show is fast approaching. We're excited to be in booth# 2113 exhibiting our wholesale restaurant tabletop supplies, catering serveware and event furniture.

We’re breaking the mold on traditional restaurant supply stores by not only selling tabletop items that don’t eat into profits (i.e. more money in the bank for you) but also by:

• having no minimums
• all porcelain, flatware, serveware and glassware in stock
• same/next day shipping to ensure you get the tabletop supplies you need fast
• We also have all our products and pricing online and available for ordering 24/7/365 so there’s no need to leave your restaurant or catering company

New at the show this year, we will be exhibiting:

• Rustic and Dark Fruitwood Stacking Crossback Chairs
• Stemware washing racks
• Catering Glass Boxes
• Banquet Chairs
• Cruiser Table Cart
• Spun Polyester Table Cloths and Napkins
• Spandex Folding Chair Covers
• Melamine Rectangle Serving Bowl

We look forward to seeing you at the Enercare Centre in Toronto on February 28, February 29th and March 1st!

The 2016 Rental Show is fast approaching with less than a week to go! We're excited to be in the Party/Event Rental section in booth 333 – right next to two major tent players Aztec Tents and Warner Shelter Systems.

Click here for an easy to print map of how to find us!

We're going to be at the show exhibiting our tabletop items, plastic and wood folding tables, event chairs and polyester / spandex table cloths.

NEW this year and featured in the booth are:

• Rustic and Dark Fruitwood Stacking Crossback Chairs
• Stemware washing racks
• Banquet Chairs
• Cruiser Table Cart
• Folding Bar Chair Cart
• Spun Polyester Table Cloths
• Spandex Folding Chair Covers
• Melamine Rectangle Serving Bowl

Make sure you stop by booth 333 to check out our show special pricing on our wood / plastic folding tables and event chairs and pick up a copy of our new catalogue!

We are also sponsoring the following events and would love to see you there to chat about the current industry trends:

Canadian Rental Association Hospitality Event at the Rental Show

Date / Time: Sunday, February 21st, 2016 from 7:00 - 10:00 pm
Location: Hard Rock Café, 215 Peachtree St. NE, Atlanta, GA 30303

Region 10 Reception

Date / Time: Monday February 22, 2016 5:00PM – 6:30PM
Location: TBA – look for signs at the Rental Show

We look forward to seeing you at the show!

Many Canadians use online shopping these days to purchase household items or gifts. In fact, according to Canada Post, 76% of Canadians shopped online in 2014; a number that is sure to have increased in 2015 due to how fast we’re seeing the adoption of online shopping. So when a customer orders a product off our website to either pick up at our warehouses or get shipped, it is understandable that the perception is they will receive a shipment like the below:

I’m going to show you just how big shipping (or picking up) special event equipment can get by using some common orders as an example.

Here are 80 white resin folding chairs:

This skid measures 40” L (3ft 4”) x 48” D (4ft) x 77” H (6ft 5”) and weighs approximately 900lbs.

Here are 72 chiavari chairs – an average order volume would be 100 chiavari chairs:

100 chiavari chairs would roughly be 3 skids of chairs, with skid dimensions of 52” W x 48” D x 81” H and weighing roughly 1200lbs each skid.

Here is 10 – 20 6ft rectangle plastic folding tables:

Since we generally average around 10 to 20 6ft rectangle plastic folding tables in one order, I am going to give dimensions for both quantities.

10 tables has a skid dimension of 32” L x 72” D x 25” H and an approximate weight of 370lbs. 20 tables has a skid dimension of 32” x 72” x 45 ¾” and an approximate weight of 700lbs.

The 6ft round folding tables (wood or plastic) tend to surprise customers the most. They have to be skidded on a custom-sized skid of 74” (6ft 2”) x 74” so they take up 148sqft of truck space. The skid itself is 40lbs and each table is also heavy – with the wood table weighing in at 78lbs and the plastic table weighing in at 73lbs. They’re a sight to behold and really the below photo doesn’t do it justice.