Men just don’t do it. They don’t go for coffee & then gossip with their friends about how lovely the place was. Nor do they do lunch in groups of friends whilst out shopping.

OK, so maybe some of them do, but the majority of coffee, cake, lunches & afternoon tea’s are taken by the female market. And where they go, your premises, is a huge pressure to you to get it right.

So, why is it then, that so many coffee shops, pubs, bars, & restaurants just aren't tapping into that market? Is it because they’re afraid of colour, pattern, texture, comfort & variety?

When did it become acceptable to sit your diners, who are spending their well earned cash, on wooden chairs, without a hint of soft furnishing in sight! Along with poor lighting, and dull “neutral taupe” colours, we seem to be surrounded by uninspiring decor & anaemic interiors, void of colour, excitement & sexiness.

Yes, we have been over-run by the “wooden” bar, pub, restaurant, with only cafes just about allowing you to sit in comfort, though even then, the boring brown leather tub chair is of cheap quality.

Is the “wooden” way the way of the man? Hard, stark, cold finishes of wood, tile, slate, paint & not an once of comfort in sight. Standing room only in many cases, where it appears the venue has not enough seats for punters.

It’s no wonder women don’t return to such venues. After all, why would we? We want to sit in surroundings which feel special, inviting, luxurious, decadent, and better than our own homes. Otherwise we would stay at home rather than suggest meeting out for coffee, lunch & dragging the old man out for dinner.

If we wanted the white painted wooden chairs, and beech timber tables & floor, then we’d sit in the Ikea canteen and eat cheap food, not pay hefty prices to get a numb arse!

Don’t get me wrong, we like to eat & pay good money for good food, but it has to be in the right environment. And yes, a lot of male bar, pub & restaurant owners will probably say “What a crock of s…!”, but the fact is, that it is the female sex who makes more of the decision about where to eat out than their other half. It is the female sex who goes out more for coffee & cake with friends, has long lunches at the weekends, or during the week if their lucky to be a house wife.

And then take celebrations, birthdays, hen parties, wedding receptions, all extremely important to women, more so than men.

So, if you want to stand out from the crowd, attract the all essential female market, and even more importantly, get them to return, then you need to choose an Interior Designer who can do just that. A Designer who is confident of using colour, pattern, soft furnishing & creating a female friendly, yet acceptable to men, design. And it won’t date half as quickly as the boring wooden floor, childlike white painted furniture, and dull neutral painted walls that so many bars, pubs, restaurants have been led to implement by Designers who haven’t the experience or confidence in colour, pattern & soft furnishing as Merell.

Merell’s years of helping businesses to stand out from the crowd & succeed beyond their Clients expectations are many. And to top it all, they’re affordable too.

A recent article quoted the Designer from Geronimo Pubs saying that their average Pub refurbishment was £750,000. Sue Chalmers of Merell couldn't quite believe what she was reading, “Of all the pubs I've designed in the South West for Enterprise Inns Plc, not one of them was more than £50,000 for the Interior Design & Furnishings. Top it with the Builders works, and very few were over the £150,000 mark. The average was more likely to be between £80,000 - £100,000.”

She added, “I just can’t understand how these Design Companies & Building Contractors convince their Clients that they need to spend so much money?! It’s pure con work! Maybe it’s highlighting that a good Design Company can work wonders with a small budget, and that inexperienced Design Companies charge the earth to cover themselves for when it all goes wrong & the Client is left with bad results?”

“That sounds bitchy I know, but I've experience working for such expensive Design Companies, where they think they can charge such extortionate Fees, and work with Contractors in partnership agreements to get even more money from the job, and yet, their complete lack of designing something suitable for the Client is really worrying”.

“It’s no wonder that people are afraid of working with Designers, when they hear about how much they charged & the business didn't get the results they wanted to get”.

And so, to conclude, you need to read between the lines of the clever PR & Marketing which these companies write themselves, and instead choose to work with a company that isn't out to make as much money as possible by designing something “wooden” & “dated”, but a company who is genuine, honest, and designs outside of the “neutral safe zone” and provides you with something that will last for years to come.

For more information about us and how we can help, why not contact a design specialist via email at enquiries@merell.co.uk or call Merell on 0117 325 0360.

Alternatively you can use our enquiry form.