Published: 5 July 2016

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Seating Solutions

Update Your Company Mailroom Now

What happens in your company mailroom from day to day? You likely have at least a few clerical assistants responsible for the sorting and delivering of packages, documents, and more to your entire team, and while you may not think about this job from day to day, it’s absolutely vital to the success of your company. How can you equip these team members with the best possible equipment to help make their jobs easier and ensure productivity? These tips can help.

Get Modular: Every mailroom needs a space for incoming and outgoing functions, but the operations from month to month in your mailroom may have to shift to deal with potential busy seasons and more. The last thing you want is built-in millwork that can shift with the room itself. Instead, go with something modular that will help your employees keep pace with real change and maintain their own efficiency.
Don’t Forget to Consider Size: As you begin to build out the perfect mailroom design, the last thing you want to overlook is the size of the space. Ordering modular pieces that are always going to be too large is certain to be an issue for your employees. Size things out carefully before you move forward.
Enlist Professional Help: This is not a space where you just want to wing it. Instead, contact our design professionals to help make a plan for your mailroom space. We’ve worked with hundreds of companies like yours in the past, and we’ll help you find the perfect layout, taking your mailroom employees’ suggestions into consideration in the process.

Ready to design that perfect mailroom? Contact us today, and we’ll help you make the ideal decisions to ensure increased productivity in your company now

Published: 13 May 2016

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Seating Solutions

Seating Options Make a Difference

One things is true of every event and venue across the country – the seating makes the difference in many things. Whether the seating influences the ticket price, creates value for the event, enhances the experience or brands your event, it plays a critical role in how your venue is received. In many cases, seating can mean the difference between a great experience or one that a customer will not return to. Take these ideas into consideration and then take a fresh look at your space.

First, give some thought to the kinds of events that you will need seating for. Sports events have a different level of wear and tear on seating than auditorium events will. Are you looking to repair the seating at an existing venue, or are you trying to create a new space for new events? If you are trying to generate interest in a rarely used hall space, then portable solutions may be your best option. Identify two to three key uses for your space and then determine what seating options you will need.

This is especially important for getting multiple uses out of one space. Seating can often make the difference between being able to have a variety of events in one location or being a “one trick pony.” Gyms are a perfect example. Seating along with other sports solutions for a wide variety of choices can increase usability. By simply investing in some divider curtains, wall padding and scoreboards, your gym or rec center can become a multifunctional space with ease.

Make a statement with specialized interior designs. High paying clients at events expect to be treated differently than typical bleachers, so personalized boxes, where possible, not only bring additional revenue in the way of corporate sponsorships, etc., but create a feeling of exclusivity for your clients. Even if you are looking at high quality portable seats on a lower budget, think about creating “ VIP tables” with upholstery and logos that stand in opposition to basic folding metal chairs.

Is your seating ADA-friendly? Today’s modern venues should be ADA compliant, not only because it is the law, but because it gives the opportunity for a wide variety of audiences to enjoy the venue. Customized seating choices can make events more accessible for everyone – growing your revenue and increasing your goodwill in the process.

Brand your space through your seating choices. Think of the fan section at any major stadium. Branding happens in a variety of ways, and your seating choices can be among the best of them. Whether you go for custom colors, create a branded “fan section” or “elite black label” space, don’t overlook the opportunity to create a customized experience that promotes the brand, the franchise or the venue.

Take another look at your space. Where could seating make the difference?

Published: 3 May 2016

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Seating Solutions

What You Need to Know About Upholstered Portable Seating

When looking to upgrade your current old metal folding chairs, you may want to consider customized portable seating. Comfortable, flexible, and reliable, portable chairs are perfect for any space.

One of the quickest ways to turn a space into an event venue or meeting area is through the use of portable seating. If you have not considered the ways that portable seating can bring new revenue into existing spaces, then here are a few things you need to know about portable seating.

Adding upholstered seating creates more opportunities for existing space usage. Consider a public building with a large hall. Portable seating means more opportunities to hold awards banquets, to invite speakers for presentations and many other usages of the space. This is especially important if you are trying to build or revive an interest in the space.

Portable seating means options when it comes to the kinds of events you can hold in the space. The very nature of portable seating means you can design the setup as you wish with quite a bit of ease. Tear down will be quick and easy. Chairs in rows or semi-circles are easy to pull off and the designs are only limited by your creativity.

Customized portable seating is also an excellent branding opportunity. Specialized seating, for example, for VIPs and guests can be created with your business logo, team symbol or any other branded features you would like. What an exciting – and portable – way to promote your team!

Far from the old metal folding chairs of yesterday, modern portable seating is comfortable, a marketing opportunity and a great way to generate additional usage of larger spaces. While you can still order efficient folding all-metal chairs, today’s options include every sort of customization, from wider seats, tablet arms, cup holders, wood grain trim and your choice of upholstery.

Why not investigate how upholstered portable seating can change the way you use the spaces you are in?

Published: 27 April 2016

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Seating Solutions

A Better Experience in the Grandstands

Seating is one of the most important aspects when it comes to purchasing a ticket to your favorite event. The last thing you want customers to do is complain about the fact that they paid money for a subpar seating experience. Usually, there are a few reasons that the seating experience is less than stellar – but being prepared for these objections means you can build a better grandstand.

Discomfort is the primary factor in customer complaints. Of course, no one expects a bleacher seat to be the height of comfort. But there are many options that can make the experience more pleasant, such as superior materials and craftsmanship. Additional seating, such as upholstered backs and other comfort features, can make the experience even more pleasant. Your clients will spend a lot of time in this seating – it should be the best it can be.

Sight lines are another key feature. No one wants to pay top dollar for a ticket and not be able to accurately see what is going on or have access to a visual aid like a jumbo-tron. Take the sightline into consideration when you are designing your seating. Even the cheap seats need a reason to come to the venue. No one wants to pay money for a ticket and stare at a column for most of the time!

Don’t overlook the need to make your clients feel special. Higher paying customers expect to receive an experience that is more valuable than a bleacher seat. Seating is one of the ways an upscale customer judges an event. Whether this means covered seating, box seating or other options, find a way to create an elite clientele who can take advantage of preferential seating in order to generate investment for years to come.

With a few key factors in mind, you can build a better grandstand that leads to an outstanding customer experience!

Published: 2 February 2016

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Seating Solutions

Benefits of a Meeting Room Upgrade

Meetings are an essential part of any business, and every good business owner knows that providing a the right kind of gathering space can maximize these sessions. If your meeting space hasn’t undergone an update in awhile, it might be time for a change. Here are some of the benefits you can expect to see if when you upgrade your meeting room furniture:

Increased comfort – First and foremost, updated furniture can drastically increase the comfort level for you and your employees. Over time, furniture can become loose, wobbly, and worn, which can lead to discomfort when it’s being used. New furniture designs also take ergonomics into consideration, something that older designs failed to include.
Improved communication – Believe it or not, new furniture can also improve the communication around your meeting table or tables. With updated furniture, you can choose which designs best suit your needs, whether it’s one large conference table, or several smaller tables for smaller groups to gather at. Choosing the design and configuration that accommodates your needs can greatly improve communication during your meetings.
Inspiring designs boost creativity and productivity – Old, outdated furniture can be a drain on creativity. This can also negatively impact productivity. With a meeting room furniture overhaul, you can introduce fresh new designs that will help revitalize and re-energize your group, allowing them to channel their creative juices and boost their productivity.
Can be customized to accommodate new technology – There are lots of new audio and video technologies being added to meeting rooms. Of course, older furniture was not designed to accommodate these upgrades because they likely didn’t exist when that furniture was made! Now, however, you can design furniture pieces with your meeting room’s technology in mind, which will maximize both space and efficiency.

Published: 18 December 2015

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Casework & Millwork, Seating Solutions

Design + Function

Just how important is design in your upcoming project? It means absolutely everything to the success of the project, and it’s one of the biggest reasons people contact Carroll Seating Company again and again to ensure they get the right design. Wondering how we can help? Take a look.

Visual Appeal – it’s what drives every designer, and we strive to reach it with every single project we handle. We want your space to look nothing short of amazing. Whether it’s a school library, an arena, or something as extensive as a lab remodel, we can help you ensure your day to day world looks phenomenal to potential employees, students, and customers. We know just how much it matters that people love the space they’re in, and our designs always work to incorporate that wow factor so you can impress anyone who walks through the door.

Functionality – As important as aesthetically pleasing spaces are, they aren’t going to do much for you if they’re not very functional, so along with your concerns about making certain the space you want is visually pleasing, we’ll also work to make sure that you have what you need at your fingertips. From highly functional casework to better layouts, we can help you plan the perfect space to help you increase your efficiency.

Budget Friendly – You want a great space, but your budget probably isn’t unlimited, and at Carroll Seating Company, we appreciate that. We’ll work with your numbers to help find the perfect solutions that still meet your overall financial restrictions.

Don’t just think about design. Make it the central focus of your project. Give us a call today so we can pair you with a project manager who will oversee every aspect of design and make certain you get the perfect space to meet your needs.

Published: 14 December 2015

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Seating Solutions

The Best Seating Options for Auditoriums

Thinking of redesigning your auditorium? Working to create the perfect atmosphere in a brand new auditorium? Your seating options matter more than any other design choice you’ll make. How can you ensure you get the best? It starts with the decision to pick up the phone and call Carroll Seating Company.

What’s Going to Work In Your Space?

What works well in your space may not be what works for everyone else. We don’t handle cookie-cutter installations. We design a plan based wholly around your needs. Take a look at a few options you may want to consider.

Fixed Seating: The perfect choice for many auditorium settings, our fixed seating choices mean a sophisticated layout that is flexible enough to fill your space. You can choose from wood and veneer laminate finishes, as well as fully upholstered comfort options that redefine the right combination of beauty and value. Choose from additional options like power and data connectivity, custom mounting, and more to ensure your auditorium is exactly what you imagined.
Telescopic Platform Seating: Most spaces these days are no longer designed to serve one function. Instead, even an auditorium is often a room where multiple purposes must be met, and telescopic platform seating is one of the best ways to do just that. They remain fixed to the wall when not in use so you get the floor area you want, but they easily pull out when you need them to help meet your expectations. Available with wireless control, they’re rigorously tested so you get the safe, comfortable seating surface you want.
Portable Seating: Looking for durable, stylish comfort without the added commitment? Our portable seating options fit the bill. With the freedom to arrange your auditorium in a number of different configurations, these are built to last, no matter what your traffic numbers look like.

Ready to get started? Contact us today to learn more about how we can help you create an auditorium that will stand out from the crowd.

Published: 11 November 2015

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Seating Solutions

In many environments, the folding chair is nothing short of required equipment. The ideal method of portable, store-able seating, the humble folding chair is perfect for arenas, schools, and offices no matter what the occasion. The simple reality, though, is that it’s not very comfortable. Instead, it’s exactly the opposite – hard, cold, and very, very uncomfortable for anything more than a five minute session. Is there a happy medium? A seating choice that can give your facility the flexibility of a folding chair with a bit more comfort? Absolutely – the upholstered folding chair.

Upholstered folding chairs offer you the same excellent options traditional folding chairs do. They’re incredibly light and portable, and they’re very easy to store. The added bonus with this eating choice, though, is that both the seat and the backrest are padded, offering a level of comfort hard, cold, metal folding chairs just can’t. They come with various cushioning options to help reduce the fatigue and restlessness that so often accompanies the long periods of sitting in standard folding chairs.

Fortunately, though, they’re just as tough and long lasting as any other choice on the market. What’s more, though, is that you can add a number of different options. Consider vinyl or fabric upholstery. You may also want to emboss the chair backs or even add options to help connect the chairs when you’re working to create a perfect layout for a larger grou p. No matter what you want to do with these chairs, we help make it possible.

Available in a number of different colors and styles, upholstered folding chairs are the ideal solution for your facility. Whether you cater to students, large groups who need to fill an arena, or something completely different, our upholstered folding chairs can help you find the best of both worlds. Contact us today to learn more.

Published: 18 March 2015

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Seating Solutions

Flexibility – it’s key for many facilities these days. From auditoriums to meeting spaces, the ability to configure and reconfigure means more options with every event. For most, that flexibility can only be achieved through portable seating, but the last thing you want people to think of when they consider your space is hard metal folding chairs. Wondering how you can move things to an entirely different level? Custom portable seating can help, particularly if you incorporate these three options:

Contour Foam: Think all portable seating has to mean discomfort? Think again. Adding contour foam to your seats means one of the most comfortable portable seating experiences of your life. Plush softness means exceptional comfort, no matter how long the meeting or event.

Cup Holders: Adding an armrest complete with cup holder means more convenience for guests and patrons. Your guests will be able to concentrate on what’s most important, not whether their beverages are safe from a certain fall or spill. It could also save your janitorial staff from ongoing problems, as cup holders reduce the likelihood of messes they must later clean up.

Logos: You want people to remember your facility long after they leave, and adding logos to your seats will give you that personal touch you want. Branding is becoming increasingly important, even in venues like yours, and adding your personal logo to the back of your portable seating means the chance to put your brand out there a bit more with every event.

No matter what you’re planning to host, the metal folding chairs of yesterday should stay a thing of the past. Instead, choosing to go with custom portable seating that actually works for guests and patrons can help you do more with your facility. To explore your options now, contact us to chat with a personal project manager.

Published: 25 February 2015

Written by Carroll Seating

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Categories: Seating Solutions

A Quick Guide to ADA Compliant Seating

You want your seating area to be accessible to all patrons, but that isn’t quite as easy as it seems, particularly if you’re working with an outdated facility or older seating solutions. As you work to revise your facility to meet the needs of even handicapped patrons, what exactly should you build into your plans? This guide can help you make sense of today’s ADA requirements so everyone can enjoy your facility.

Understanding the Definition

An accessible seat is one that has been specifically designed for wheelchair use and includes features like an accessible approach space, location at grade, cleared floor space, and larger dimensions. One companion seat should be provided for every accessible seat. Keep in mind that while you can add designated aisle seats for use by those who have disabilities but are not wheelchair bound, they cannot be deemed “accessible” seats.

There are specific size guidelines with accessible seating. Wheelchair spaces have to be 36 inches wide and 48 inches deep if they can be entered from the front or back. If you have two spaces side by side, each one must be 33 inches in width. In the event you have a space that can only be entered from the side, it has to be 60 inches deep.

Seating Placement

The goal of all accessible seating is to ensure those patrons who need it get the same experience other audience members do. As such, you need to think about equivalent lines of sight, viewing angles, and the best location of seats for those patrons. If you have luxury boxes or something similar, making a percentage of those ADA compliant is a good idea, and even required in many cases.

Total Seats Available

ADA guidelines state that the number of accessible seats is based on the total number of seats in your venue. Depending on the type of facility you currently have as well as the overall number of seats, that could fall between one and five percent. Often individual removable seats can be placed in these accessible seating areas, though, to make the seats sellable in the event they are not needed by a person with disabilities.

Providing the Right Information

Don’t forget to make the information about accessible seats available, too. Using the same text and visual representations you do for your normal seating areas, you’ll want to provide enough information to allow those who wish to purchase accessible seats to determine whether they meet his or her needs. If you include maps or seating configuration displays in your sales literature, you’ll want to note the accessible seating information there as well.

Following ADA seating guidelines not only helps ensure that you won’t be fined for noncompliance, but it also helps to make certain that all of your patrons will be able to enjoy your facility, no matter what their disabilities.