Restaurant table configuration and revenue: A correlation November 12
Does having the right kind of restaurant table and the way they’re arranged affect a restaurant’s earnings? According to a study conducted by Professor Gary Thompson of Cornell University’s Center for Hospitality Research (CHR) a few years ago, they certainly do – whether they’re indoor coffee tables or outdoor bar tables.
In a study titled “Dedicated or Combinable,” Thompson revealed the results of research on how the use of dedicated tables – or those that are constructed for specific party sizes – and combinable tables – or those small tables that can be pushed together to accommodate a larger party – impacts a restaurant’s revenue.
Following are some highlights of the study:
- Dedicated tables produce the most revenue for mid-size restaurants, especially chain restaurants, which commonly serve large walk-in parties.
- Smaller combinable tables are better for small, independent restaurants, or those restaurants that are capable of seating just about 50 people.
- Combinable tables aren’t that suitable for larger restaurants because large parties of customers don’t want to wait for the smaller tables to be vacated and pushed together before they can be seated.
- There are more than 8,000 possible table and chair configurations that a mid-size restaurant can explore to determine which one will maximize space best and attract and retain customers.
Thompson reached his conclusions by using Tablemix, a computer model he developed, which analyzed data from a real restaurant to see how restaurant tables are used by customers. This tool would be useful for established restaurants that already have a substantial amount of data on customer traffic, but probably not too helpful for new or less popular restaurants. Still, it could help restaurant owners in planning their arrangement and configuration of their tables.
