Build Your Brand with Uniforms

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If you want your venue’s identity to make a lasting impression on patrons, perhaps your employees should dress the part.

In the nightlife business, as with many industries, the first impression is what either keeps your venue full of happy customers all night, or has them fleeing for the door. And that first impression is comprised of many things; the décor, the amount of people already inside, the size, and of course, the employees. While material items inside your bar may catch the eye of your patrons, your employees are the ones that have the primary interaction with the customer. Their attitude and attention is key, but what matters more than people think is what they’re wearing. Uniforms are an essential point in branding your bar as an authentic venue, and having your employees dressed properly will ensure positive results.

Gary Stoltz, Vice President of JFF Uniforms in Torrance, California (www.jffuniforms.com), dresses employees at an array of venues, from the characters at Disneyland to the cocktail servers in Las Vegas casinos. Over the years, Stoltz has seen an influx of bar owners interested in going from employee-furnished outfits to custom made uniforms based on an interest in specific branding.

“Over the past few years we’ve seen the restaurant industry, in California especially, prefer employee-furnished uniforms, just from a cost basis,” says Stoltz. “That trend is now kind of reversing and they’re starting to go back to uniform dress. Employee- furnished has been the trend, and now all of a sudden we’re seeing it go more in the opposite direction. They want to use the uniform to differentiate their location.”

According to Stoltz, the recession was one of the main reasons that bars and nightclubs went from custom made uniforms to employee-furnished. When it comes to cutting costs, the uniform budget is usually the one that gets hit the hardest. Unfortunately, there is a cost to giving your venue that needed kick via a customized uniform.

“If the employers are furnishing the uniforms, they not only have to have one for every person, they also have to have extra ones in stock,” Stoltz explains. “With the custom uniform it takes time to manufacture, and they have to have something in stock. It is a fairly substantial cost to them—current employees plus potential hires they have to cover.”

Elana Gallant of Class Act Uniforms in Pompano Beach, California (www.classactuniforms.com), which dresses employees mostly in the bar and nightclub industry but also has clients in diners and family owned businesses, has seen a similar trend in the nightlife industry: The recession had owners turning to employee-furnished uniforms, but only until they were able to turn back around and customize. Gallant is a firm believer that first impression is key, and the uniforms worn by employees are what the patrons are going to pay attention to.

Click here to read the full article “Dressed to Impress” in the April 2011 digital edition of Bar Business Magazine