— Joe Esposito , CEO , Gary Platt Manufacturing
national . “ Reduction by 25-30 percent may be necessary for social distancing . However , if the need for outdoor patios at restaurants increases , there may be more attention spent on outdoor furniture , and also indoor furniture to accommodate customers that wish to be inside , but may require comfortable and socially distanced areas for small group interactions .”
These needs also may require rethinking the design of the chairs themselves . “ Single chaise lounges that are light and stackable have always been important to allow for an easy transition to open up the decks for other uses in the off-season , but more and more operators prefer to have other seating configurations that can provide for tiered monetization ,” says Kreft .
“ Seating that holds two or even four people from the same social or family group on one larger chaise or bed allows for a tier of offerings above the single chaise , but below the full cabana . This opportunity will more than likely be even more advantageous with social distancing .”
2020 Reality
While there are projects like Circa , the Cordish Pennsylvania properties and others that have soldiered on through the Covid-19 shutdowns , this year ’ s new reality with respect to design projects and the furnishings at the heart of them all boils down to capital budgets .
Designers , FF & E planners and suppliers are dealing with budgets strained from consecutive zero-revenue months for the operators . The chain of this revenue strain travels to the contractors , suppliers and designers that depend on operators being able to wield those capital budgets .
“ Long gone are the days of , ‘ We ’ re going to make Revel ,’ or ‘ We ’ re going to build Borgata ,’” says PMI ’ s Long . “ The idea of working within a constrained budget to meet the goals is really at the forefront . Everybody right now is dealing with a mess of cash burn , but they still have to renovate . They still have to build .”
For FF & E aggregators like PMI , that means not only laying out plans to suit today ’ s budget , but providing backup plans to save money later . “ We do a process called conceptual budgeting , where we work with the owner , work with the designer , and establish budget goals ,” says Long . “ We establish itemized budget allowances for everything on the project . It defines scope , it sets boundaries for the design team , and it lets the owner have a predictable anticipated cash flow . And you do that by being informed with current market prices , and changes in the supply chain .”
Long adds that keeping an eye on market prices can prevent surprises down the road , if the furniture purchase lags behind other elements of a design project . “ If you didn ’ t plan for ( the pricing ) in the beginning , all of a sudden when you go to buy it you ’ re stuck , and you can ’ t actually afford it ,” he says . “ If the designer designed something that was out of your budget , you ’ ve wasted time on design . So , really collaborating early on in the process
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42 CASINO STYLE 2020