One of the best things about the hospitality industry is that there is space in the market for countless different experiences and offerings. From high end and luxury bars to bars for after-work drinks, bars with loud music, and immersive bars that are built on a memorable experience, there is a corner of the market for everyone.
But that doesn’t mean that bar businesses can rest on their laurels once they’re open. In fact, if there’s one thing that’s even more important than finding your corner of the market upon opening, it’s making sure to keep delighting and enticing customers with a great setting and experience.
In this blog post, we discuss some of the most common signs it’s time for a bar redesign – keeping you at the forefront of the market, and ensuring you never lose that enthusiasm that you had on opening day.
Why is it important to keep your bar design fresh?
Remember how it felt when you were first opening your bar? When everything was fresh and clean, and you captured the attention of customers with the promise of something new and exciting?
Well, while that exact feeling can’t last forever, as a bar with ever-growing competition from other bars, pubs, restaurants, and more, it’s critical that you retain the enthusiasm and quality of a new bar to keep customers coming back. A redesign doesn’t just offer a chance to paint over wear and tear, but also to inject some excitement back into your business.
6 Signs it’s time for a redesign
The following are all signs that it’s time to invest in the aesthetics of your bar business with a redesign.
1. Outdated Decor
Trends in the bar industry ebb and flow – and a major part of running a successful bar business is bridging the line between being “on-trend” and creating your own personal style.
While customers love to be surprised, and while intrigue goes a long way towards drawing customers in to try something new, making sure that your bar setting is both on-trend and appealing is crucial for keeping customers engaged. That means replacing outdated décor and knowing when it’s time to give your bar a refresh and a new lease of life.
2. Visible Wear and Tear
We shouldn’t need to tell you this, but when your bar space starts to look tired and the signs of wear and tear become more than just a sign that your bar is popular and well-loved, it’s time for a fresh start.
Some of the best places to look for signs of wear and tear include fixtures, furnishings, and table surfaces – not to mention bar floors and your in-house facilities.
To keep customers coming back to your bar, you need to maintain a fresh, inviting, and clean space for them to enjoy. After all, visible signs of wear and tear can indicate a lack of care and interest around maintaining a relaxing and enjoyable setting.
3. Decreased Footfall
Want to know if your bar is up to the standards expected by your customers? Then look at footfall and popularity.
If you’ve seen the footfall in your bar wane in recent months, then it could be that you’re starting to lose customer interest. This could be due to new competition, or it could be that your bar is becoming outdated and tired. Either way, these are signs that you should consider a redesign to attract customers and draw them back to experience your new and improved bar setting.
4. Brand Misalignment
The environment you created in your bar is a physical projection of your brand. It needs to both compliment the brand that you’ve created and support the marketing you do, to ensure that you are enticing the right customers and giving them the experience that they expect.
The simplest way to look at this is to consider who your marketing attracts, and then ensure that the environment you’ve created is suitable for that audience. Better still, take steps to delight and surprise those same customers when they arrive, ensuring that every detail is designed with them in mind.
5. Operational Challenges
A common sign that your bar needs a design overhaul is operational and logistical challenges. From poor layout to a lack of lighting to guide bar staff from the bar to guest tables, it’s critical that the space you create compliments the way it’s used.
Customers need to be able to navigate the full journey with ease, while bar staff need to safely move between tables and from the bar to customer tables safely and efficiently.
A redesign can offer the opportunity to refocus on the practical elements of your bar as well as the aesthetic details, improving functionality and experience.
6. Competitors are on the Rise
Last but not least, when it comes to running a successful bar, it is crucial that you know who your competitors are and what they are doing.
While you can’t maintain the “new bar appeal” forever, what you can do is tap into seasonal occasions, explore innovative events, and refined customer experiences to keep your bar fresh and appealing regardless of how long you’ve been open.
Bars that are considered stylish and timeless in their design are often popular with customers, while those that market a calendar of different events create that competitive appeal that keeps customers coming back.
Boost Your Bar with Carroll Design
Here at Carroll Design, we specialise in transforming hospitality businesses through their interior design – injecting a new lease of life into their environment and thereby uplifting the entire business.
Having worked with bars across all corners of the market, we can combine your ideas and vision with our experience to create lasting, sustainable success – with services that run from consultation and advisory sessions through to redesign completion.
Get in touch to find out more.