Make It a Double: Lighting for Pubs and Bars

If there’s one thing that is almost as important to a bar’s success than the type of drinks they serve, it’s achieving the right atmosphere. 

Bars live and die by how well they’re able to create a specific mood or vibe when a customer walks in through the door. Sometimes, like in the case of dive bars, that atmosphere is achieved naturally through a little bit of local charm. However, at other times, it pays to make sure you can accomplish that mood through more subtle methods. 

We often see on TV that bars are usually some variation of an Irish-styled pub or place that looks like it hasn’t seen sunlight since it was built. The reality, however, is quite different, with bars taking all kinds of different shapes and sizes across the country and catering to a wide variety of clientele as well, with each bar or pub having its style based on who it’s trying to serve. 

As a result, bars vary wildly from one another as each one finds the niche of customers that make it unique. 

However, while it’s indeed lovely that bars and pubs have so much variety, this often comes at a cost to stability and reliability, with business owners constantly struggling to make things “stick” long enough for the bar to break even. 

More often than not, this comes down to simply not being able to nail that little section of the population that correlates the best with the business’s identity, with the venture fizzling out as the initial interest and novelty wear thin. 

Thankfully, there’s usually a way to make sure you have regulars coming back for more, and that solution comes in the form of atmosphere. Which, in case you weren’t following, comes in the form of some stellar lighting, as well as by following a few universal principles. 

So read on, and witness how you too can own the successful beverage business of your dreams by simply figuring out your lighting setup.

Come for Beer, Stay for the Ambience

The simple art of a good bar comes down to the fundamental maxim that humans like to eat (and drink) with their eyes. How we see a space and smell and feel our surroundings can be a massive factor in how we engage with an area. In bars and pubs, the mindset is often focused on whether or not the place is safe enough to have a drink while also being relaxing enough to let your hair down. 

Lighting is easily the most powerful tool for business owners to use when making customers as comfortable as possible. If only because it’s an important way to communicate style and intent before committing to anything visually. 

For example, suppose you’re styling your bar to be a pretty standard watering hole for locals that plays the game on a few TVs and makes sure to keep a light beer always on tap. In that case, having a brightly lit neon lighting setup is probably not going to do you any favors. Instead, choosing a lighting setup that emphasizes warm, inviting lighting that doesn’t get too complicated is the key in that specific scenario. 

In this case, steel lighting thrives.  Wall-mounted pieces, such as the Westchester or Venice lights, make perfect additions to booths while also being handy as task-orientated lights for behind the bar. 

Similarly, ceiling lights like the Manhattan can bring out the detail in any aesthetic while also covering a space in enough ambient light to make things comfortable. 

Tight Margins

The reality of bar/pub ownership is that you’re essentially running a business on a few tight margins. Even worse, risks in bars can be pretty high, from hardware problems to clumsy staff to less than desirable clientele. As a result, making every dollar count has become a crucial practice for many bar/pub veterans, with every cost-cutting measure possible being taken into account to help get ahead of the overheads. 

In fact, most bars and pubs will usually collapse due to being unable to keep up with a successive enough string of incidents and unforeseen costs. This is particularly a problem for new ventures that are more than likely still working through the teething problems of their day-to-day operations. 

As such, having a reliable and cost-effective solution to your lighting will help alleviate a host of problems from the get-go. The obvious one, of course, is reducing workplace accidents, which a proper lighting setup can reduce the chances of considerably. 

As far as cost-cutting goes, investing in an LED bulb can be a great idea. LED bulbs are highly effective, both as a good light source as well as being the most cost-effective bulb currently manufactured. LED lights last much longer than standard incandescent and fluorescent lighting and are much safer to use as well, with LED bulbs generating much less heat in the process. This makes bursting lights and potential fire hazards almost a thing of the past. 

Similarly, investing in dusk-to-dawn sensors can be a huge relief for your power bill, as the automatic sensor will be able to accurately measure when to turn on and turn off a light when it’s not needed. For outdoor lights, such as those you would use for signage, this can be a massive boost. 

Owning a business is an absolute minefield of decisions and margin calls that can often make or break a venture before it’s really been able to get on its feet. Taking the time to deal with each detail adequately helps. Planning your own lighting setup can be an advantageous experience that can give you the edge over your competitors by simultaneously saving money and attracting new business. 

If you need help making those decisions, then contact our friendly team at Steel Lighting Co.,  our friendly team of experts would be more than happy to give some advice and recommendations on what kind of steel barn light can best suit your business needs.