A No-Fuss Buying Guide for Cafe Umbrellas
If you follow my blog, then you would have seen last week’s article about businesses that benefit from shade umbrellas. Perhaps the biggest beneficiaries of all are cafes.
Think about the local cafes in your area. Of those that are located on a street front or offer outdoor seating, I bet not many – if any at all, don’t use café umbrellas. Am I right? Café umbrellas are not confined for use by cafes either. Restaurants and bars can also benefit in the same way.
If you own a café, restaurant, or bar or you’re about to open one, then investing in café umbrellas is a must. To help you choose the right café umbrellas for your business, follow this no-fuss buying guide that I’ve put together.
Size
HE Home & Cafe Umbrella
The first step in buying café umbrellas is to know what size you need. If you’re opting for a standard centre pole café umbrella, your best way to know which size you will need is by measuring your tables.
Below is a simple table to work out sizes
| Table Diameter | Umbrella Size |
| 75 to 90 cm | 1.8 to 2.5 m |
| 95 to 120 cm | 2.7 to 3.3 m |
| 130 to 150 cm | 3.3 m > |
Ashadya Shade Sails & Blinds have café umbrellas ranging from 1.5 m to 4.3 m in diameter. So, you’re sure to find the right sized umbrella in either our HE Home & Cafe Umbrella or SU2 Market & Cafe Umbrella range.
Material
SU2 Cafe & Market Umbrella at Abattoir Blues Cafe & Bar
Knowing the size, now consider the material. Café umbrellas can be made from a variety of materials and can be waterproof or not waterproof. The most common are acrylic, olefin and polyester.
The material used will ultimately determine the level of UV-R protection offered, if it is fade-resistant or not, whether it’s waterproof or not, and whether it is resistant against mould and mildew. It will also determine the colour options available.
For a café umbrella contains all these qualities; waterproof, mould and mildew resistant, fade resistant, excellent UV-R protection and comes in an extensive range of colours, consider our HE Home & Cafe Umbrella range.
Branding
As a café, branding is everything, which is why many cafes choose to brand their café umbrellas with their own logo or the logo of their coffee supplier.
If you’re looking to advertise with your café umbrella, then you need to also check if branding is available. At Ashadya, our SU2 Market & Cafe Umbrella comes with branding options as do our HE Home & Cafe Umbrella range.
Fixture
Lastly, consider the fixture options. Are you looking for temporary/portable shade or fixed shade from your cafe umbrellas?
Portable café umbrellas offer the added benefit of being able to be easily removed or moved from table to table at any time. Fixed umbrellas; those that are either bolted down or installed in-ground, are less prone to fly away in windy conditions (which is important for umbrella insurance) and are generally more robust in design and manufacture.
For a portable café umbrella, consider our SU2 Market & Cafe Umbrella – it is available with either a 25 kg concrete base or a 36 kg steel flat base. For a fixed umbrella, consider our HE Home & Cafe Umbrella, installation options include bolted down or in-ground.
Conclusion
Café umbrellas are a must-have for cafes, restaurants and bars. If you don’t already have them, you should! When shopping for café umbrellas, consider the following; what size umbrella do you need, what does the material offer and is it waterproof, is branding available, and what are the fixture options?
If you’re ready to increase customers and therefore profits by investing in café umbrellas, get in touch with Ashadya. We specialise in supplying and installing the best quality café umbrellas in Sydney. We are a family owned business located in Galston and look forward to helping your business grow.