Can Furniture Be Too Comfortable?

Considering the comfort of your customers when planning your seating needs is imperative to the success of any restaurant. The question is, how comfortable should your chairs and benches be? Logic says that you would want to make your seats the most comfortable they can possibly be. No one wants to be uncomfortable while eating. However, extreme comfort may not be the best for your business. I'll explain why:

Say you are at a fast food restaurant. You are standing while you order your food and standing while you wait for it. As soon as you sit down on one of those hard plastic seats, you are comfortable. But soon, the unforgiving nature of the hard plastic starts to become uncomfortable. It becomes uncomfortable enough to keep you from sitting at the table for an extended period of time. Any restaurant owner knows that the faster you can turn over guests, while still keeping them happy, the more money you will make. A table with guests brings in more money than a table without. But if guests linger at a table because it is so incredibly comfortable, that table is not maximizing its potential to make a profit.

It is best to think about the atmosphere of your restaurant, the type of dining, and the target diner group that you are wishing to attract when you purchase seating. Commercial seating is often judged entirely on aesthetic, but the comfort of a chair or bench has an impact on the success of a business as well.