Increase capacity with Round Picnic Tables
Standard picnic tables in the rectangular style are important mainstays of the park community. Buyers all over the world appreciate the simple styling and the large amount of table space that can accommodate food and people. But is there a special place for round picnic tables in the public arena? Clearly these round styles are popular as well. Can you optimize the round picnic table in your space, whether it be a public park, a recreational facility, a theme park or other publicly trafficked areas?
This article will explore the attributes that place round picnic tables above other options like very large rectangular picnic tables, especially where larger volumes of smaller groups gather.
As a purveyor of premium quality, highly rated picnic tables that are considered best in class – we hope you’ll also consider shopping with us for a picnic table when you determine which style is right for you.
How can strategically chosen picnic tables help your industry or application?
Without question, there are differences in the type of user and the type of buyer that buys the different styles of picnic tables on the mainstream market.
Depending on how you’ve come upon this article – whether as a sourcing agent, a buyer, designer, architect, planning specialist or government affiliated procurement specialist, you’ve already got some idea about your preferences. Maybe you are none of these buyers – maybe you are just on the lookout for a communal space to spend more time outdoors. No matter how you landed here, this may prove to be an interesting opportunity to discover the nuances of picnic tables and how the differences between them can help you make a solid decision for your space.
Rectangular picnic tables make the most sense in larger areas, where there is plenty of room surrounding the table structure. The long tabletops are well-suited for food, plates, trays and other picnic related items. When larger groups are the norm for a given space, an 8 foot long rectangular picnic table is an efficient use of funding and offers a lot of options for bigger parties.
These picnic tables are exceptionally popular in beach areas, national and state parks, recreational outdoor areas and campgrounds due to their ability to cater to groups of all sizes while providing exceptional utility from a total tabletop area perspective, or price point relative to total seating capacity. Paired with a BBQ or a firepit, these picnic tables are excellent for more remote food needs, where coolers, and portable stoves might be used, thanks to their extra surface area.
Why are square and round style picnic tables a worthy consideration?
In areas where group sizes skew lower and where there is less total space relative to the table, round and square picnic tables can shine.
The smaller footprint of the round picnic table and the ability to house a minimum of 4 adults around the tabletop, makes these styles an easier to implement concept for certain use cases. One such use case is food service, or high volume high turnover areas related to food. This may include outdoor food courts, beer gardens, restaurants, concession areas, and the like.
Mainly due to the following reasons, these types of tables fit exceptionally well for these types of spaces:
- Tighter footprints make for better throughput of traffic around tables
- Group sizes trend smaller in food establishments and outdoor areas because ordering for larger groups is tedious and hard to do efficiently – even bigger groups tend to split off and share smaller tables, generally
- Some purchasers will be solo, and can still take up a table for a short amount of time without negatively impacting the normal flow
- Users tend to approach spaces like these in a more intimate way – food and community have definitive crossovers
- More tables can be turned over more consistently and the higher number of tables helps to improve overall food/concession ROI due to this potential for turnover
- Smaller tables can be cleaned and maintained more frequently, and faster during food rush periods
- Temporary areas can more easily be set up and taken down with items that can be transported both on vehicles and by humans in a space more easily. This concept favors smaller table sizes.
That isn’t to say that rectangular tables are only suitable for large outdoor, secluded areas under the pine trees, and round and square picnic tables are only for where food service establishments can make the most money. Each table can be used in multiple spaces under many different circumstances.
Improving throughput and capacity with the right kind of tables can improve overall park metrics and satisfaction
When designing a space, and trying to estimate the total ROI potential, and the best ways to spend resources without a full set of data about what will happen in a space, it’s important to look at a lot of different metrics.
Presumed metrics can be derived prior to actual data being gathered as well, as long as they are based on proper assumptions. What you must do though, is try to look at historical adoption. The larger sample size of actual market saturation for purchase types and styles means a lot when you are evaluating the best purchase decisions for a completely new space.
It’s important to prioritize what has been done in the past from the organization in substantially similar parks or whatever style of space you oversee. It’s also important to look at what you will focus on. If you are selling concessions at a live music venue, your choices will generally favor quicker turnover, temporary movements of crowds, and larger volumes over shorter periods of time.
Contrasting those conditions with an outdoor recreational facility, a lake or a campground, where parties will generally be spending more time in a stationary location, and where the use of the tabletop/picnic table will be done in longer, less frequent changeovers. Such consideration will skew towards desiring more luxurious and spacious options.
Further contrasting use cases to find ideal scenarios, you may consider specialty tables or bundled outdoor furniture concepts. An accessible table will suit a wider range of patrons, and offers an important feature set to those with specific needs. You may also be able to harness the best ROI of a picnic table by combining it with amenities. In park settings, trash receptacles make sense, as do BBQ’s and fire rings.
In more urban landscapes, you may find planters, and bike racks as important value adds for areas that are going to be focused on picnic table style layouts.
At schools and universities you find opportunities for a much broader combination of footprints. The round tables will make sense in certain areas, while accessibility will be an important factor, and rectangular tables will be good for cafeterias and larger open spaces, or where a lot of communal events might take place.
An important concept to understand is that round picnic tables can be up to about 25% more efficient in seating volume, relative to space considerations. While that means losing some table surface area, this can be important in tighter areas and under certain conditions.
Pricing guidelines for round picnic tables from Premier Polysteel – a leader in outdoor picnic tables
Premier Polysteel sells tables of all types in the picnic style, and they range from $1564 to $2712 at the time of the writing of this article. Prices can change at any time, due to global and regional variances in material supplies and other factors. Premier Polysteel has a history of providing exceptional ROI and value relative to market competition. We will continue to do what we can to keep our prices competitive. We also believe we offer some of the most compelling products in the commercial outdoor furniture space due to our unique catalog, and engineering.
Other reasons you should explore the Premier Polysteel line of picnic tables for public or high traffic spaces
Premier Polysteel picnic tables offer the following benefits:
- A strong base of premium steel, coated in polyvinyl which completely covers the frame, and minimizes chance of rusting, UV damage, temperature concerns, and wear and tear
- Windproof designs that can also shed water provide quick return to the outdoors for users, while the Plastisol coating makes sitting on these seating surfaces comfortable year round
- Heavy duty and moderately heavy weights means easy risk management from a vandalism and theft perspective – mounts can be paired to make installations permanent, too
- There are no sharp edges, and innovative creature comfort additions like umbrella holes and easy ingress/egress considerations, also make our products enjoyable
- We offer a 20 year warranty, and a track record of backing our products – many samples still exist in the wild, older than this warranty period
- The strong mix of materials offers exceptional ROI with less maintenance and longer total life span, as well as lower total cost of ownership
If you believe you can benefit from the special attributes of the picnic tables we described here, we would invite you to consider working with us to outfit your outdoor space. If you are already a customer – we thank you! We are so proud of our customers’ successes, and their loyalty to our brand inspires us daily.
We invite you to reach out to talk with our team, or shop round picnic tables in our outdoor furniture shop online.
