New presentation on our main web site: Restaurant Chairs Chicago
Closeout Restaurant Table
We update this page at least once a week. All items are subject to prior sale.
Discount pricing on restaurant chairs, bar stools, restaurant tables, closeouts, seconds, showroom samples and theatrical props on hand and in stock in the Chicago area from Kurt Petersen Furniture The ONLY Place To Sit!
Links to popular and best selling furniture products on our main web site. Promotional pricing and specials on granite restaurant tables, wood tables, quick ship tables, restaurant table bases, outdoor seating, bar stools, restaurant chairs, restaurant booths, waste receptacles, lounge chairs and cafeteria seating. Restaurant Furniture Promotional Pricing page is updated at least once weekly.
Granite Restaurant Tables
Granite Restaurant Table Tops 2010 PROMOTIONAL Pricing
13 Standard sizes, 5 color selections. Granite tables in stock for immediate shipment.
What a difference a year makes. A year ago today, March 1, 2009 business was tough to get and had been for six months or more. Scott and I were working hard and getting by even after a 5 year stretch of leadership from the latest Plymold factory marketing genius who tried to apply the Pareto Principle to an industry he knew very little about. He succeeded mostly only in alienating a lot of loyal customers and discontinuing a lot of products that people actually bought. As bad as that situation was we didn’t know how good we had it. When we really got screwed over was when the Chopenopoulos principle was applied to us. When your new sales manager hires his friend and crony to “work with you” you know there’s gonna be trouble!
Nepotism is favoritism granted to relatives or friends, without regard to their merit.[1] The word nepotism is from the Latin word nepos (meaning “nephew” or “grandchild”).
For the most part we are happy with the decision that we made. We have also been overwhelmed by the support of customers and others who have rallied around.
It amazes me that we are still being asked what happened.
Shown below were our two main communications at the time. The letter of resignation to the factory and the notice we sent out to our long-time customers.
Letter Of Resignation October 31, 2009
Charles G. Mayhew
Foldcraft Company
615 Centennial Dr.
Kenyon, MN 55946
RE: Sales Rep Agreement
Dear Chuck,
It is with great personal regret that I am informing you that I have decided to terminate my Sales Rep Agreement with Foldcraft Company.
As you know, significant changes were proposed and then made to my exclusive territory this past July, 2009. Essentially these changes removed from my responsibility sixteen restaurant equipment dealers in Northern Illinois. Reluctantly, we agreed to these changes. Since that time we have heard several times from other of our long term active Plymold dealer customers who have been personally called upon by the new rep firm. The new rep firm informed these clients of mine that they were now Plymold. A few days after informing my manager about this situation I heard from yet another client with this same story. The damage to my reputation and credibility cannot overstated or undone. At best, the move to appoint a parallel rep organization in this territory has been done in a very clumsy way, at worst, encouraging my resignation from the Plymold line was the desired outcome.
Thirty-five years is a long time to do a thing. To have my objections and concerns borne of experience dismissed and diminished out of hand is predictive and revealing of the true agenda. Chicago is indeed a large city. It is understandable that the company would want to do more business here. We might have been able to live with a factory employee calling on OEM accounts or providing specialized services. We might even been able to coexist with an independent rep firm in the healthcare or other unrelated industry. Accepting the current situation with the current manager and rep group implies my endorsement of it. I believe that the appointment of this particular rep group is a conflict of interest on my manager’s part and is unacceptable to me.
Sincerely,
Kurt Petersen
And this is the one we sent to our customers:
After many years ( 35 years ) I have decided to resign from the Plymold Seating line as their manufacturer’s representative.
This past summer our new Plymold Sales manager informed me that I was expected to accept the appointment of a “parallel sales rep organization” in my exclusive Plymold territory.
The “parallel sales rep organization” was to service a very limited number of accounts. Against my better judgment I agreed to this requirement at the time. It wasn’t long before another agenda began to emerge and it became obvious to me that I could not live with the direction this new plan was really going.
I want to let you know that I have always appreciated your business and your confidence. I hope some day to renew that relationship.
Sincerely,
Kurt Petersen
Nothing says Space Age like a George Nelson Clock, George Jetson’s space car or the Soviet launched Sputnik satellite.
Sputnik Satellite
Like the Sputnik satellite the Sputnik bar stool has gleaming metal surfaces and looks like it is moving even when its not. Angled, tapered chrome legs, a chrome rimmed round seat that can be upholstered in glittering Naugahyde Zodiac vinyls make this chrome bar stool the perfect seating option for any Space Age interior.
www.kpetersen.com
Naugahyde Zodiac Glitter Vinyl Upholstered Seat
Sputnik Bar Stool Seat
Make your next chrome bar stool a Space Age Sputnik Bar Stool.
Visit our chrome frame bar stools selection at: CHROME BAR STOOLS
http://www.kpetersen.com/barstoolschrome.htm
THE ONLY PLACE TO SIT Specialized source for institutional, commercial, industrial and contract furniture.
www.kpetersen.com
Simple, sturdy and a little small in scale the basic diner restaurant chair goes on and on. Like the Energizer Bunny there is no stopping its march into the 21st century.
The “Diner Chair” is not just for diners anymore. Now seen in every kind of quick service and casual service restaurant…even Asian restaurants! it is ubiquitous now for one reason, It is a great, practical restaurant chair. Diner chairs sit people up straight to eat. Diner chairs are easy to clean and the American made versions are strong and dependable.
One feature that really makes this chair a great choice for all kinds of foodservice applications is the number of unique visual statements that can be made. Even the basic diner chair without any embellishments can be upholstered in any of thousands of vinyl fabrics.
Standard Diner Chair
Once you start adding color and pushing your restaurant’s theme there is no end to the ways you can individualize a diner chair’s appearance and make it your own.
Zebra Diner Chair
Specifying different colored welt cord trims on backrests, seats and upholstered panel inserts provide a big punch too.
Diner Chair - Three Color Backrest
Diner Chair - Three Color Backrest
Diner Chair - Two Color Backrest
Diner Chair - Two Color Backrest
Diner Chair - Two Color Backrest
Diner Chair - Two Color Seat
Upholstered buttons on diner chairs provide color and design opportunities too.
Diner Chair With Upholstered Buttons
Diner Chair With BIG Button Backrest
Channel back, two tone channel back, and V back diner chairs often relate to other furniture such as booth seating or restaurant interior architecture design elements and motifs.
Channelback diner chair
Two-tone channelback diner chair
Handle back diner chairs are another example of diner chair practicality.
Channelback diner chair with hand-hold
Two-tone channelback diner chair with hand-hold
Plainback diner chair with hand-hold
Make your next restaurant chair a diner chair.
Visit our diner chair selection at: DINER RESTAURANT CHAIRS
http://www.kpetersen.com/restaurantchairsdiner.htm
Kurt Petersen Furniture
THE ONLY PLACE TO SIT in the 50’s soda fountain, 50’s kitchen, Moderne “Kitchy” kitchen or diner restaurant. Our sparkling chrome 1950’s diner chairs feature heavy duty 14 gauge tubular steel construction. Diner chairs are available in a wide variety of upholstery materials including fun fifties Naugahyde Glitter vinyls and Cracked Ice vinyls. Matching retro bar stools and floor mounted soda fountain counter stools are also available.
Photo Courtesy Ben Butterworth
First class business travel in the era of cigars, cigarettes, three-piece suits, white shirts and narrow ties took place aboard Santa Fe’s renowned El Capitan and Chief streamlined passenger trains. The Mohave Lounge Car was originally built in 1953 by the Budd Company a leading manufacturer of stainless steel streamlined passenger rolling stock for a number of railroads.
After twenty years of service on the Santa Fe and another twenty years for Amtrak the Mohave Lounge Budd railcar was purchased by Mid America Railcar Leasing. The Mohave Lounge Car underwent an extensive rebuilding that combined the newest railroad systems and safety technologies with the distinctive Santa Fe ambiance of the railroad’s great Streamlined period.
Included in the interior restoration of this vintage railcar was an upholstered version of the distinctive Deco Aluminum restaurant chair. The Deco style, small scale, light weight and durable construction of this aluminum chair made it the perfect choice for everyday use aboard the Mohave Lounge.
DecoDina Aluminum Chair www.kpetersen.com
Eating a meal in a restaurant is a great convenience. Usually the customer is able to select exactly what they are hungry for at a price that is reasonable or at least what they expect to pay. The added value for many restaurant patrons is that there is no going to the store to buy ingredients, no preparation, no cooking and best of all no dirty dishes or other clean up chores to do when the meal is finished. No clean up is one of the many reasons why there is no such thing as a free lunch!
Most of the heavy cleaning a restaurant needs to do is done after hours. The quick clean ups between customers does take some time though and is necessary to maintain an establishment’s reputation. A restaurant’s famous croutons, crunchy appetizers, tortilla chips or french bread are better anticipated than seen all over the furniture from the last customer’s meal.
Try to choose restaurant chairs, booths and bar stools with quick cleaning in mind.
Restaurant Booth with a Crumb Rail
Restaurant booth manufacturers usually offer a Crumb Rail option for most booth styles.
Some popular restaurant chair styles are easier to keep clean than others.
Two Wood Restaurant Chair Styles
Chairs with and without clean out gaps
Restaurant furniture durability, looks and comfort are important. The way restaurant furniture products work are important too and can add or subtract from your restaurant’s reputation and profitability.
Counter Stool Seats
Formica Boomerang plastic laminates are the most fun you can have with your restaurant dining room budget.
Formica re-introduced their Boomerang Plastic Laminate patterns a few years ago. Now priced like any standard pattern you can use Formica Boomerang laminates even on a budget. The curvy, colored boomerangs are the restaurant designer’s antidote for today’s gloom and doom.
Formica Boomerang Aqua #6959
Formica Boomerang Charcoal #6942
Formica Boomerang Coral #6941
Formica Boomerang Skylark #6940
Formica Boomerang Restaurant Table
Often used on table tops and counters, Formica Boomerang laminates can also be used imaginatively on restaurant cabinets, laminated plastic booth seats and fast food waste receptacles.
Visit Formica Brand Plastic Laminates Web Site www.formica.com
Familiarity with color psychology, use and theory will help you achieve a total color effect.
Refer to the summary below for some guidance in the selection of restaurant interior surface finish colors.
Light and Cool Colors Recede
Light and cool colors can make a small space seem bigger.
Dark and Warm Colors Advance
Dark and warm colors can be used in large rooms to keep the space from feeling vast.
Bold, Primary Colors = Speed
Primary colors are appropriate for encouraging fast food turnover and in children’s areas.
Subtle Colors are Restful
Pastels can make a room feel bigger and often have a calming, peaceful effect.
Color Can Convey a Style
Color can evoke a theme or style: For example, Green for nature, pastels for Post- Modernism, red, black & white for a 1950’s diner look or gray & pink combinations for a 1930’s, 1940’s Art Deco Look.
Colors Should Relate to Climate
Warm colors feel right in colder climate restaurants, cool colors feel right in warmer climate restaurants.
Think about the feelings colors convey
and what colors can do and say.
RED
Red suggests aggression, hostility, heat, stop, error, warning, danger, error, fire, lushness and passion. Red & black is a classic restaurant combination.
Some say red enhances the appetite.
GREEN
Associated with nature the pastoral and general well-being. Green also suggests envy and jealousy. Green should not be overused. Too much can affect skin tones and the appearance of some foods.
YELLOW
Yellow suggests the sun, expansiveness, happiness and high spirits. Yellow commands attention and suggests caution. It can be used successfully as a highlight.
BLUE
Blue suggests the peaceful, the sad and water. Blue is often associated with the male.
Blue is a cool color and can visually expand a room. It does not compliment most foods. Blue goes well with warm colors and materials.
BLACK
Black can have negative sociological connotations. However, black can be very stylish and and modern. Black works well as an accent with other colors.
WHITE
White suggests the virginal, the cold and the clean (think table linen).
White walls can encourage turnover and are in keeping with the bright, clean atmosphere of a fast food environment. Too much white can cause glare.
NEUTRALS
Dark browns suggest masculinity, lighter browns warmth and femininity. A neutral background allows for flexibility.
These are not “colors” but are used as such in restaurant surface decoration and products
GOLD/BRASS
Gold and brass have a warming influence and can help offset cold materials like stone or brighten dark materials like dark wood.
CHROME/STAINLESS STEEL
Chrome and stainless steel are neutral, cold, hard and clean. Polished chrome surfaces can add color and movement by reflection. Chrome and stainless steel suggest the modern style as well as antique styles like Art Deco, 1940’s and 1950’s restaurant interiors.
Rooms with a regular layout of tables and booths neatly lined up in rows seem formal. Tables that are randomly spaced throughout the room with different sizes and types of seating mixed in lead to a feeling of informality and creates a visually interesting restaurant. Having the right combination of sizes of tables in a restaurant can decrease wait time for customers and can maximize seating capacity and profit.
People tend to be attracted to curved forms. Asymmetrical booths, bars, counters and table shapes encourage interaction between guests with face to face seating. However, curved walls as well as any space dividers should be well thought out so as to create a sense of larger space…the fewer restrictions to movement the larger the space feels.
* See Undulating form restaurant booth
Spatial arrangements should always be orderly, guiding people in logical progression from area to area.
The layout of the dining room and the furnishings control how efficiently the restaurant dining room operates. How smoothly things run affects the customer’s experience and a future decision to return. Fast and professional service requires efficient traffic flow in a restaurant.
It is important to identify the cultural and/or ethnic background of the target market.
Is the target market urban, suburban or rural? Will the customer prefer wide open spaces or a crowded, cozy atmosphere?
Depending on your type of business you will want your customers to stay for different lengths of time.
In fast food dining rooms primary colors and bright lighting can be used to emphasize identity and to create an upbeat, high energy image. Some degree of uncomfortable tactile experiences like smooth, hard surfaces can be appropriate for fast food too. These elements also facilitate turnover and easy maintenance. However, in a fine dining establishment or where liquor is served the comfort of your seating must correspond with the length of time you want your customers to stay.