When starting out with a new business, there are so many things to figure out — location, target market, products and services, interior and exterior design, and, of course, furniture. Due to budget constraints to be considered, it is truly tempting to head out to your local furniture retail store to buy a few furniture pieces. But this is not recommended.
The qualities of furniture are entirely different depending on whether they are for residential or commercial use. So, if you’re beginning your journey into the business world, you have to consider choosing commercial grade or contract grade furniture for your restaurant, coffee shop, or office.
Commercial grade furniture, also known as contract grade furniture, is any piece of furniture used in commercial areas or for commercial purposes. This is made to a higher standard than furniture found in your local retail stores.
Commercial grade furniture is used in high traffic areas such as in parks, restaurants, hotels, hospitals, and airports. It ranges from chairs and tables to bar stools and sofas. These pieces of furniture are made to withstand rougher wear and tear and do not break or get destroyed easily.
While residential or domestic grade furniture is just made for light daily use, commercial grade furniture is made up of more durable materials meant for heavy usage. It can also be used indoors or outdoors and is weather-resistant.
You should seek companies specializing in commercial grade furniture, such as MAKA Furniture, rather than ordinary retail stores when buying furniture for business use. This ensures that the quality of your furniture is topnotch.
To ensure that commercial grade furniture is not lacking in quality, there are several tests made to batch representatives of manufactured furniture. Once they pass these tests, they are awarded certifications that are recognized as international standards.
Weight testing is used to determine the weight limit of a certain piece of furniture. It is primarily significant in chairs, which are used by people of different body types.
In domestic grade furniture, the maximum weight limit is usually around 150 kilograms; however, in commercial grade furniture, the maximum weight limit is around 300 kilograms. This means that even when a huge, heavy package is placed on a commercial grade chair, it won’t break or lose its structural and mechanical integrity.
Different weights or loads are strapped on the back or legs of the chair to determine if there won’t be any structural breakage or sudden change in its integrity. This is done to know if the chair is still functional and serviceable even when pressure or load is applied to it.
Weights are allowed to free-fall on the center of the chair from above. If it sustains no damage or remains structurally intact, then the chair passes drop testing.
This test simulates real life situations in which a heavy item, package, or another piece of furniture accidentally falls down on the chair. It is also a practical application of when a person is standing on the chair, in which it bears a heavier load than when a person is simply sitting on it.
Forward and backward stability are both tested, putting force or load at either the front or rear legs of the chair while a load equivalent to a man’s weight is sitting on it. Stability testing is done to ensure that complete balance is achieved even on uneven surfaces.
UV testing is done to determine if a piece of furniture is suitable for outdoor use. Park benches and chairs for outdoor seating, for example, are UV-tested to ensure that harsh and direct sunlight will not affect or destroy the quality of the furniture. It also means that it can withstand being out in the sun for indefinite periods of time without losing its functionality and integrity.
Compared to domestic grade furniture which is only used by a small number of people on a daily basis, commercial grade furniture is used daily, at times 24/7, by a huge number of people. Therefore, it has to be made more durable, strengthened by materials of higher quality.
In places such as restaurants and coffee shops where people come and go, durability is one of the main pillars of furniture quality. In a practical sense, you should look for furniture that doesn’t break easily and can be used for many years.
Considering a business’s budget restrictions, finding furniture that will be a good value for the money is one of the secrets to smaller business expenses and higher revenue.
Commercial grade furniture will not take a toll on your business’s budget, which can be used for other purposes, such as manpower, marketing, or branding.
At MAKA Furniture, it is ensured that every piece of furniture is the perfect investment for your business. Whether you are opening a coffee shop, restaurant, or other commercial spaces, the chairs and tables you will get from MAKA will be part of your business’s branding and reputation.
When you go to your local furniture store, you will find that they only sell basic furniture made of lightweight materials and for light usage only. This is not suitable to be placed at a commercial area frequented by different people at all times of the day.
If you buy commercial grade furniture, you are ensured that it can accommodate people of all weights and sizes, ranging from toddlers to heavyweight adults. This, in turn, helps you serve a wider market segment than that which can be accommodated by domestic grade furniture.
This is directly related to the weight testing and load testing done on commercial grade furniture. The maximum weight limit of domestic or residential grade furniture is lower than that of commercial grade furniture. Load testing and weight testing is also more rigorous when it comes to commercial grade furniture, undergoing longer and more difficult testing cycles.
Because of this, commercial grade furniture made by MAKA will surely be an asset to your business.
Everyday wear and tear is not the only enemy of commercial grade furniture. You also have to consider how other people treat your business’s furniture, which is very different from how they treat their own furniture at home.
Because it’s not their own, they couldn’t care less about a piece of furniture in a public space or a commercial area. Again, people just come and go, and most of them will not treat your furniture with care.
This is why commercial grade furniture is made for rough and heavy usage. The materials are stronger, more durable, and more sturdy than ordinary home furniture. Also, the quality doesn’t change even when excessive strain or pressure is applied to the furniture.
On this note, commercial grade furniture also requires less care and maintenance. For example, you don’t have to clean MAKA’s chairs and tables every now and then. They maintain their quality even with irregular cleaning because they have self-protection capabilities.
When it comes to usage, perhaps the best and most suitable material for commercial grade furniture is plastic. Plastic doesn’t break easily because it usually has no moving parts and is built by injection molding. It also doesn’t need frequent care procedures, unlike wood which needs to be treated regularly against decay or metal which needs to be repainted every now and then to avoid rusting.
Plastic can stay clean and immaculate with just a little bit of cleaning, which only requires little manpower and little strain on your budget.
If you notice the benches at your local park or the tables and chairs that are left outside a restaurant for their al fresco dining, you will see that they don’t seem to be losing their quality, rain or shine.
There are some domestic grade furniture that can also withstand different weather conditions, especially if they are made of plastic, but commercial grade furniture is much more resilient and more sturdy.
Commercial grade furniture made for outdoor settings and has passed international standards can withstand fluctuating weather conditions, which means its quality remains the same despite high humidity, heavy rain, or snow. It is also fade-resistant, waterproof, and UV-resistant.
This is important to consider if you are thinking of putting up a business in an outdoor location, such as a garden or a veranda. Ordinary furniture will not do well when the factors of heavy usage and outdoor setting are both taken into account. That is why you have to carefully choose high-quality commercial grade furniture for your business or establishment.
One of the main things that a business should avoid is a lawsuit. May it be a restaurant or an office space, a place is prone to accidents if the furniture used is of low quality.
This is why you should not bring ordinary home furniture to a business setting. Buying commercial grade furniture simply avoids accidents brought forth by broken furniture after long wear and tear.
Imagine if your customers or clients sat on a chair that turned brittle over time. This will surely turn into accidents that can lead to sprains, broken bones, or worse. Commercial grade furniture avoids that trouble and hassle of tending to unsatisfied or hurt customers.
This means that having commercial grade furniture will also boost your reputation by avoiding lawsuits. Having high quality furniture therefore translates to good business practices that inherently take care of customers and put their comfort above others.
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MAKA offers high-performance and personalized furniture for any room and condition at affordable prices. Order now at an MOQ of 100.
