Many café owners will agree that these days it is becoming increasingly important to differentiate themselves from the competition with not only their menu, but with interesting interior design. Customers want new experiences from not only the food and drink, but from the environment around them as well.
Katherine Blizard, owner of Ampersand Café & Bookstore explains that “cafés and restaurants need to update their interior every two to three years to remain competitive and to keep exciting their customers. We often focus on customer service and great food and beverages, but the interior of a venue contributes to the success of a business more so now than ever before.”
Designing fun and unique furniture for your brand is one option to help set you aside from the pack and get tongues wagging. With so much furniture on offer these days, you might not think about creating your own furniture or think that customised furniture will be way out of your price range, but B Seated Global have been helping café owners create unique AND affordable furniture for their fit outs.
Based in Sydney, B Seated Global are a family run business founded in 2005 by Jack Klein, a 35-year veteran of the furniture business. Initially supplying furniture to the event and rental market, they have evolved into the hospitality market. The company now has a range of over 3,000 products and imports furniture from all over the world.
Having a network of factories both locally and abroad who manufacture to order allows the majority of their range to be customisable by material, colour and finish. “We focus on custom design for a multitude of commercial projects,” explains director, Daniella Klein Menachemson. “Our strategy is to give custom design at an affordable price point. It doesn’t have to be absurdly expensive for someone to get furniture that is unique and exclusive. We aim to meet everyone’s budgets.”
Today the company services cafés, pubs, bars, restaurants and even airport lounges. Clients include national restaurant and café chains such as Michel’s Patisserie and Nandos, as well local independent stores. “We like to give personal service,” says Klein Menachemson, “we really like to become involved in the project and get personally attached. We work with people for years and years and we see our customers as partners.”
Recent projects include Ampersand Café & Bookstore in Paddington, Macchiato in Pitt Street, Berkelouw Book Barn in Berrima and three beans in Broadway Shopping Centre.
B Seated Global supplied Ampersand Café with bespoke bentwood chairs and stools made in Michael Thonet’s original factory in Poland. “The bentwood chairs and stools complemented our indoor dining areas perfectly. The natural timber sits beautifully amongst our antique tables, sofas, and our fireplaces,” says Blizard. “Our customers are really enjoying our interior; sales have increased by 30% since the renovation.”
Macchiato received copine chairs and leather bar stools with customised upholstery. “B Seated Global had quite a few options when it came to working with this scheme. We were able to get samples to try out, which was very helpful. It was also great to be able to choose custom colours for powder coating and customise upholstery, whilst still keeping within the client’s budget,” said Trish Lopez from Giant Design, interior designer of Macchiato.
Peta Howe, interior designer of three beans says, “I loved the weathered and slightly rustic look of the table tops. The black wax shows the grain in the timber beautifully and ties the table tops back in with the black stain of the timber counter front.”
Looking to the future, the company is keen to continue along their current path of finding new products and further exciting projects. “We are continuously looking at new ways of growing the business, so we look at new markets to target, new products to present to the market, and different ways of packaging the products we produce,” says Klein Menachemson.
If you are looking at refurbishing your café in the next few months, contact the B Seated Global team to find out more about how you can get unique and affordable furniture for your venue.
CONTACT
www.bseatedglobal.com.au
