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Photo Source: Style Me Pretty

You’ve probably seen industrial metal dining chairs before – whether at a restaurant, a café or at a rustic / industrial event. They’ve become insanely popular in home décor and wedding trends. What you might not know though, is that they’re inspired off of an 80 year old chair from a company called Tolix. The Tolix Marais A Chair was designed by French metalworker Xavier Pauchard in 1934 and since its inception has swept the world in popularity. I’m pleased to announce that we now have in stock Industrial Metal Dining Chairs of our own – to sell to restaurants, banquet halls or party rental companies looking for a classic, simple and hardworking chair that works equally well with rustic, industrial, modern and elegant event themes and restaurant ambiances.

This wholesale industrial metal chair is stackable with holes in the seat for water drainage and glides to prevent floor marring. It measures 20” W x 17” D x 33 3/8”H with a seat height of 17” H and a weight of 10.2 lbs. Pricing starts at $89.95 with volume discounts dropping dramatically after 100 chairs.

Last week, I wrote about the different event chair trends that have been prevalent through (and what I think will be enduring through) 2016. Trends are important to stay on top of so you can understand what your customers are seeing in bridal magazines, and on the internet. But let’s be honest – just because new trends come into existence, doesn’t mean a company should buy in right away. I’m not going to argue that you should invest in event chair trends all the time (especially not if it means putting your company into financial trouble), but hear me out on why I think investing in the event chairs you get asked for the most by your customers makes fiscal sense.

It’s human nature to want to buy more from a vendor that has more of what you need. It means less monetary transactions, less chances of things going wrong, and it tends to be more convenient. What also matters to customers is whether you have the inventory that a customer has his/her heart set on. Investing in new event chairs means you’re ensuring you have a refreshed inventory for existing customers – which leads to an increase in the total rental bill and also increases the likelihood of gaining new customers who are looking for the trends.

Customers are also more likely to want to work with companies who have newer more aesthetically pleasing inventory. From a bride’s point of view for example, chairs are what pulls the room together and unless the bride is looking for a shabby chic wedding they’re not going to be excited with event chairs past their prime. Event chairs that are really showing their wear and tear are less likely to woo new and existing customers into a rental contract.

After you’ve assembled the Chiavari chair dolly, it makes sense to take a look at how to use the product so you avoid damaging the Chiavari chair cart in any way or your precious Chiavari chair inventory. We’ve been hearing that the axles have been breaking – which shouldn’t be occurring with proper usage so here’s how to properly use a chiavari chair dolly:

1. Stack the Chiavari chairs up to 7 chairs high

2. Place the Chiavari chair cart’s bar underneath the bottom chair’s seat and above the first rung

3. Grab hold of one of the chairs, the Chiavari chair cart handle, place your heel on the ground and your toes on the axle and pull towards you.

Do not stand on the axle like the below picture to use your weight on the axle as what tips the stack of chairs back. This can cause the axle to break with pressure.

Photo Source: ET Transport

Previously I explained the difference between what a customer generally perceives shipping event equipment to look like versus what the reality tends to look like. It occurred to me when I was writing the post that it isn’t necessarily clear whether a shipment will be skidded or package shipped. Taking the time to lay out some of the general shipping rules we use (keeping in mind there are exceptions) could be useful in anticipating how much help you need when accepting shipment.

Shipping Folding Tables:

Generally when we’re shipping less than 5 plastic folding tables, they’re shipped packaged shipping. Any order with more than 5 plastic folding tables tends to be shipped on a skid. Generally it’s better to ship a 72” round table on a skid. Because of how big these tables are, they ship more safely on skids. That being said, we do occasionally ship them without skids. When we’re shipping less than 5 wood folding tables, they tend to still be shipped on a skid because they do not come in boxes and are more prone to damage in the shipping process.

Shipping Event Chairs in Boxes:

Plastic folding chairs, blow mold folding chairs, folding bar chairs, resin folding chairs and wood folding chairs are all shipped in boxes. A general rule of thumb for shipping event chairs is anything over 4 boxes is shipped on a skid. Anything under 4 boxes is shipped package.

Shipping Other Event Chairs:

If we ship a sample Chiavari Chair, Cross Back Chair, Bistro Chair, or banquet chair, they will be boxed and shipped package. Any orders over 3 chairs are generally shipped on a skid while under 3 chairs are shipped package.

Shipping Porcelain Dinnerware, Glassware, Cutlery and Table Cloths:

Shipping porcelain dinnerware, glassware, cutlery and table cloths depends on how many boxes your total order is. That is why we include how many inner packs make up a total case in the product description. 1 to 3 boxes are generally shipped package while any more than 3 boxes are shipped skid. Glassware is packaged in larger boxes then their normal packaging to provide extra cushioning.

We may be already 3 months in from the start of the year, but for party rental companies, banquet halls and golf courses, it’s never too early to start looking at how the trends will affect their rental inventory in 2016.

We’re pinpointing a number of trends that are taking off in a big way this year. 2016 also continues some old trends while bringing in some fresh event chair concepts.

The Phoenix Chair

With a base like a chiavari chair, and the back similar to a Louis XVI, these chairs have been popping up at more contemporary events, on the rental show floor, and overseas for a while now. With their similarity to a ghost chair and crystal chiavari chair, we predict a big surge for the more fashion forward events wanting something just different enough to set the event apart from the crowd.

The Tolix Chair

Photo Source: Green Wedding Shoes

With the rise in popularity of all things rustic and steampunk, gave way to a new sub-theme of events including rustic industrial and rustic modern. The tolix chair fits right into these themes lending just enough rawness to accent the grittiness of a rustic theme. We have these chairs available via special order.

The Cross Back Chair

Photo Source: Style Me Pretty

Capitalizing on the rustic trend, cross back chairs made their way into the mainstream for the first time a couple years ago and have been slowly and steadily gaining traction in the rental market. We recently added these to our inventory of event chairs in stock and available for sale.

Vintage tufted arm chairs and couches

Photo Source: Marvelle Events

Noticing a trend? Because vintage goes so well with rustic themed events, and also goes with romantic ultra feminine events, vintage tufted settees, couches, love seats, and arm chairs are becoming popular for lounge seating groups at weddings. In fact, full vintage rental shops have been starting up all over North America to address this niche.

The Eames molded plastic chair with dowel legs

Photo Source: Amazon

I’ve seen Eames molded plastic chairs with dowel legs as either accent chairs for a sequestered seating group for guests or for reception dining seats. It lends itself particularly well with the rise in geometric modern and contemporary themes.

Chiavari Chairs

An oldie, but a classic – the chiavari chair may never go out of style with the wedding set. This year (as well as last year) Gold Chiavari Chairs are still a hot commodity and we’ve recently seen an uptick in demand for Crystal Chiavari Chairs again as well.