CLOTHING MAKES THE ESTABLISHMENT
By David Gargaro
Friday, February 6, 2009 
Branding is an important part of building a successful business. It should occur at every point of contact between your restaurant and customers.
Because employees spend the most time with customers, turning them into representatives of your brand makes a lot of sense. The restaurant uniform makes this goal easier to achieve.
But besides establishing a brand, uniforms leave customers with a positive impression of the establishment and instil confidence. Additionally, uniforms can raise the perceived quality of the food and service offerings, which leads to greater profits and increased prices. They can also help establish a mood (determined by the restaurant’s style) – from fun and casual to formal and upscale.
“We design and manufacture garments with the wearer in mind,” says Brad Heizman, Cintas’ rental marketing manager. “Our garments have a retail-inspired look and feel to them, which provides the wearer with a professional image and high level of comfort.”
Besides being part of your establishment’s branding initiative, uniforms help to define different roles within the restaurant. Customers can clearly identify employees – serving staff, hosts and bartenders – by what they are wearing. This makes customers feel more secure and confident when dining in your establishment.
Uniforms also make employees feel they’re part of a team; they are treated with equal importance and develop a sense of comfort and respect. ‘Front of house’ staff, such as hosts, servers and bartenders, can be differentiated from each other, which ensures employees know who is responsible for what role in the restaurant. These employees can also be differentiated from ‘back of house’ staff – cooks, chefs, bus boys and dishwashers – through the use of variations in uniform style and colours.
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"When choosing uniforms, you must determine whether you’d like to purchase or rent." |
When choosing uniforms, you must determine whether you’d like to purchase or rent. Although not a hard and fast rule, some restaurants choose to purchase uniforms for front of house staff and rent uniforms for back of house staff. Front of house staff are the most visible members of the restaurant team, so their uniforms tend to be higher quality and more visually appealing. Back of house staff are involved in “messier” duties, so renting uniforms and having them cleaned and repaired on a regular basis (which is part of any good uniform program) makes a lot of sense.
“Several factors should be considered when choosing between a direct purchase program and rental program,” says Brian Garry, Cintas’ director of segment marketing. “Generally, a purchase program offers a wider variety of choices in both style and colour. A rental program may not offer all of the choices but can save you time and money, especially if you have high turnover, which happens to be an industry-wide Achilles heel.”
If purchasing uniforms, it’s important to not only choose the right company but the right uniform. It makes no sense to spend money on uniforms that do not convey the right image and are uncomfortable to wear.
Questions to ask when investigating a uniform supplier include:
- What is the supplier’s inventory commitment?
- How fast can they turn around orders?
- What is the company’s return policy?
- What is the company’s design capabilities?
Cost is also a key factor when purchasing uniforms. Prices will vary when choosing between catalogue or stock product, which is easily accessible and affordable, and custom designed product, which provides more choice at a higher cost.
“Most suppliers are either stock houses or fully custom,” explains Garry, adding Cintas offers two levels between catalogue and exclusive design.
“Customers can choose our signature express option, which allows them to make basic changes with embroidery, cuffs, collars (and) buttons to distinguish their product. Or (they) can try (our) simply custom (option), which offers a wide range of predetermined silhouettes, fabrics and colours without commitments to large runs and large fabric purchases.”
If renting uniforms, go with a full-service rental company that will handle all laundry, repairs and maintenance of the uniforms on a weekly basis. They should also be able to add logos (as well as names) and fit uniforms to each employee. The number of uniforms being rented can be altered according to changes in the size of the workforce. Cost is often a deciding factor when renting uniforms as upfront capital is not required. Also, the uniform program can be tailored to meet the restaurant’s goals, requirements and budget.
