Blog posts tagged with 'party rental'

Samsonite Folding Chairs. Poly Folding Chairs. Plastic Folding Chairs. Whatever you want to call them, Plastic Folding Chairs are a universal product for event rental/party rental companies. Everyone has them. They may be white on white, black on black, brown on tan, or any number of other colour combinations, but everyone has them. They are the chairs most commonly rented for events and are the most cost-effective rental seating option out there. Unfortunately, they aren't known for being the strongest chair in the marketplace. And buying plastic folding chairs based on price can lead to embarrassing failures as the cheaper materials aren't strong enough to hold society's expanding waistlines.

We get asked a lot of question by new and existing customers when they're looking at our products. One of the questions we frequently get asked is how much weight our chairs will support. NES Reliable Plastic Folding Chairs are have been tested by BIFMA (Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer's Association) and have passed a six inch drop test at 225lbs. For this test BIFMA takes a 225lbs weight, suspends it 6 inches above the seat, and then drops it. This is useful information to know, but many of our customers and potential customers want to know if that means the chair will collapse if a 250lbs person sits down.

We've decided to take writer's axiom that it's better to show your audience something than to tell them about it and modernize it for the digital age. Dennis and Jonathan went into our warehouse and made a video starring a Black on Black NES Reliable Plastic Folding Chair and a pallet of 20kg bags of road salt. Behold the fruit of their labours!

With 2012 wrapping up, Special Events Magazine ran an article appearing in the November/December issue of the "30 Top Rental Companies". One of the articles in the magazine asked about the trends that the biggest and brightest event rental firms were encountering as a forecast to what the event rental/party rental industry might encounter. Let’s take a look at what seems to be trending going into 2013!

Top trends for tabletop include over-the-top gold flatware, cut crystal, platinum and gold rim china, copper and hammered serving pieces, big and bold 22-ounce stemware, nature-inspired items, rustic chargers, trays and accouterments

Trends in events includes making it custom—as Peterson Party Center states "We are bringing in new items on a more 'request' basis now as opposed to us deciding what to bring in on a seasonal basis. Home interior design is really driving the design of our tabletop and linen inventory."

Forecasting for 2013 includes—a tremendous increase in corporate and social business revenue—special event companies who keep a close eye on costs and watch operations overages should be able to do well in this market.

It's great to see that top event rental companies continue to see upward growth as they head out of 2012—the economic outlook seems to be improving which is sure to help all the party rental companies into 2013.

As 2012 winds down and into 2013 be sure to keep National Event Supply in mind to work with us on a custom order for an upcoming event or check out our new Serenity Crystal stemware line—sure to impress even the most critical eye.

Tuesday evening was the third CRA Ontario event/meeting of the fall season. Dennis and I attended the meeting which was hosted by Uniquip at their Ontario location located at 2625 Meadowpine Drive in Mississauga, just off of Highway 401.

Uniquip is one of Canada’s premiere suppliers to the equipment rental industry providing a wide range of products including generators, pressure washers, flooring equipment, construction, and compaction equipment. Uniquip has been in business for over 35 years, and has been owned by the John Brooks Company since 1996. John Brooks will be celebrating their 75th year of existence in 2013 and recently merged their Canadian operations under the Uniquip brand to provide better service and support for the rental market.

The meeting drew quite a large crowd, probably one of the highest turnouts in recent years. It was great seeing Tony and Michelle from D & D Party and Tent Rental. They provided tables and linens for the CRA Meeting at no charge. It's great to see such comraderie and makes us proud to be a member of such a great organization. Upstairs in the conference room, I ran into Kim and Shannon from Muskoka Party Rentals in Bracebridge, Ontario. It was good to see them, especially since it is quite a long trip for them. After a short conversation, we were invited to take a tour of the Uniquip Warehouse.

The Uniquip warehouse has about 60,000sq feet of floor space and a very impressive clear height that allows for 6 levels high of racking. The warehouse includes lots of racking for product storage, a staging area for orders, a product assembly area, and a testing area.

Click to enlarge pictures.

After the tour we were taken back to the conference room where Mike Maltby (President of the CRA Ontario and owner of Ingersoll Rent-All Inc) talked about the schedule of upcoming events, the most significant of which will be the 2013 CRA Ontario Tabletop Show which is to be held at Nottawasaga Inn Resort in Alliston, Ontario on Saturday, January 19, 2013. The Tabletop show is a great way to see all the leading suppliers to the party rental and equipment rental industry in one location and to share stories with your peers. After the Tabletop show there will be an evening banquet dinner followed by some great entertainment.

We then proceeded to a great buffet dinner that was prepared by Teatro Conference & Event Centre in Milton. We were served roasted to perfection roast beef and a collection of incredible side dishes. It wasn't until we were eating our dinner that Dennis and I realized we were sitting at our 60" round plywood folding tables. When we usually see the tables, they're stacked on a skid waiting to be shipped to one our fantastic customers. It was a great opportunity to see some of our products in action!

After dinner we were entertained and informed by Joe Ellers on 'How to Make it Happen with Proactive Sales Strategies'. Joe has more than 25 years of sales experience and talked about ways every one of the businesses in attendance could do simple little things that would dramatically improve company’s sales. The highlights of Joe’s presentation were:

1. Define what you want more of—This of course would be SALES! But make sure you are specific with this Goal.
2. Put together a Target Account list that includes both your existing Customers and New prospects
3. Set up outbound calendars—this is so your staff schedules calls: phone or in-person. And it doesn’t have to be only for your sales people.
4. Start Tracking Your Opportunities—You can’t grow what you don’t track or measure.

We often get asked what our most inexpensive (cheapest) dinnerware line is. There are many reasons that someone might be looking for cheap dinner plates. Sometimes it’s a rental company looking to do a large event without breaking the budget; others are organizations looking to purchase dinnerware for their lunchroom; others still are restaurants looking for cheap plates for large occasional events. Whatever the case may be, when a customer is looking for a cheap dinnerware line, our go to product is our Pearl White Dinnerware line. For years now we have offered our Pearl White Dinnerware line as our entry level, everyday value, dinnerware line. With the Dinner Plate starting at $1.80 and other dishes having a similarly attractive price point, it is easy to see why Pearl White is such a great choice for large events. If you are interested in adding an inexpensive dinnerware line like pearl white things that you need to consider are the quality of the dinnerware, and growth potential that it offers to your business.

Quality

One of the key features beyond price is the quality of porcelain that Pearl White dishes are made with. Our Pearl White Dinnerware is all made of A/B grade porcelain. A/B grade porcelain is the porcelain grade that many high end brands. Even our more expensive dinnerware lines use A/B grade porcelain. So then what’s the difference and why is Pearl White so much less expensive? The first reason is that Pearl White porcelain is missing the additives that our Quadrato, Hotelier, Ovali, and Polar White porcelain have. Porcelain additives like aluminum oxide make the porcelain stronger, more chip resistant, and therefore better suited to a commercial environment. As a result, Pearl White is closer to houseware quality, and it might not be the best option for a restaurant to use on a daily basis.

Growth Potential

One of the greatest features of Pearl White Dinnerware is the growth potential that it gives you. If you receive a request for an event with 500 people but you only have 100 Steelite plates, it may be financially difficult to justify purchasing 400 additional plates to win the event. If on the other hand you have the same scenario but with Pearl White Plates, suddenly it is an investment that you are able to make. This flexibility allows you to take on events that you may otherwise not be able to simply because the cost of the dinnerware is too high. It is also great for your customers because if a plate breaks, it is only $1.80 versus close to $20 for a Dudson or Steelite dish (depending on your supplier). This potential for growth is perhaps the most valuable asset of the Pearl White Dinnerware line since a relatively small investment goes a long way.

When purchasing new tables, many of our customers have difficulty choosing between NEW Wood Folding Tables and NES Reliable Plastic Folding Tables. We are often asked "Which tables are better?" in hopes that we'll be able to definitively tell our customer and potential customers which tables are better. The truth is that both types of tables have pros and cons that you need to consider before you purchase your tables. To help you make your choice, we will look at some of these positives and negatives of both tables, including weight, strength, cleaning, flexibility of use, and overall longevity.

Weight

Weight is an important factor if you are going to be moving around the tables on a regular basis. If you need to move the tables around with limited labour, then the advantage clearly goes to the plastic folding tables. For example, the 6-ft NES Reliable Rectangular Plastic Folding Table weighs in at a scant 30.26lbs compared to the NES Wood Folding Table which weighs 48lbs. Lighter tables help reduce the risk of injury and damage to the table when it is being moved. If you will not be moving the tables then the weight advantage is likely a non-factor for your purchase.

Strength

When it comes to strength it is really a dead heat. Both the NES Reliable Plastic Folding Tables as well as the NES Wood Folding Tables are exceptionally strong. Need some proof? Take a look at the two pictures below. One is our 6-ft NES Reliable Rectangle Plastic Folding Table and the other is our new 6-ft NES Wood Rectangle Folding Table. Both tables had two 35lb 6-ft rectangle skids and 22 8-ft NES Reliable Rectangular Plastic Folding Tables stacked on top of on them; This is a combined weight of over 1100lbs. At the end of the one hour test, both tables were folded neatly and put away with no evidence that the test had been performed on them.

Click to enlarge pictures.

Cleaning

Each product in this case has a different advantage for cleaning. The plastic folding tables are great for fast cleanup of spills. Since it is a flat surface that does not have bolts in the top like the wood folding tables have, you can simply wipe the top clean. With that said some people do find that over time the plastic folding tables pick up marks that are either difficult to get off or they are not able to get them off the table. This is not as much of an issue with the plywood tables because they can be refinished.

Flexibility of Use

In terms of overall usability, the plastic tables come out slightly ahead of the plywood tables. Why is this? As I have already mentioned, the plastic tables are lighter than their wood equivalents, which makes them easier to manage. Additionally, they can be used in doors and outdoors. While the plastic folding tables will deteriorate over time if left outdoors, the deterioration will occur over a significantly longer period of time. Additionally if you wipe the tables dry after it rains this deterioration will be delayed further.

Overall Longevity

For overall longevity, wood folding tables are king-- although the wood table may not remain the size that you originally purchased. Many of our customers love that they can sand the tables, apply a new coat of varnish, and effectively have a brand new table. What happens if you break the corner? The 8-ft x 30” rectangle will simply become a different size, perhaps a 8-ft x 18” Training Table or a 6-ft x 30” rectangle. While plastic folding tables also last a long time in a rental environment, you are not able to refinish and reuse them in the same way that you can with the plywood tables.

So which type of tables should you buy? It’s really a personal preference. You need to decide what is important to you, so that you get table that's best for you on a day to day basis. At the end of the day, as long as you purchase a high quality table, we don’t think there is a bad choice between the two. We have many customers that wish that they switched to Plastic Folding Tables earlier and others that swear by the Wood Folding Tables. If you have any other questions about folding tables or any of our other products, please don't hesitate to ask us a question!

Top Image courtesy of Stuart Miles / FreeDigitalPhotos.net