Commercial Shade Structures: Choosing the Right Type

Yellow awning in a commercial building

When you own a business, you want your customers to have it made in the shade. For this to happen, it’s up to you to choose the best commercial shade structures for your setting. While in years past you may have had very limited choices, things are very different today. If you’re eager to let your customers have it made in the shade, we here at Rollac have everything you need to know about commercial outdoor shades and so much more.

Why Use Shade Structures in Your Business?

If you use a retractable awning or perhaps canopies or other types of outdoor shade structures, your business will reap a variety of benefits.

Take Advantage of Additional Space

One of the biggest benefits of using shade structures at your business is being able to use additional space for your customers. If you have a patio, porch, or even an inside area that was once too hot due to direct sunlight, you can now look forward to using that large area of outdoor space even on the hottest of days.

Improve Your Property’s Looks

When you are picking out a commercial awning for your business, keep in mind that it will greatly enhance your property’s look and feel. Once you add the combination of color, design, and shade to an area, people’s curiosity will be peaked.

Offer Shelter from Bad Weather

Commercial shade structures such as retractable awnings, canopies, or a shade sail can offer great shelter from inclement weather. Even if it is raining, your customers can still enjoy themselves in your outdoor space.

Entice Customers

When people notice a business that has an outdoor structure that provides plenty of shade to a large area, it actually encourages more and more people to stop by and mingle. Before you know it, you’ve got more people at your business and more profits in your pocket.

Types of Commercial Shade Structures

As you start looking around at commercial shade structures, you will notice many different options from which you can choose.  

Outdoor shades

Commercial outdoor shades are very popular choices because they offer many shapes and styles that can fit in well with any type of architecture. Rectangles and squares, triangles, and even hexagons and octagons can be found. In fact, design customization is virtually unlimited. Whether it’s animals, flowers, or other designs for a specific theme, outdoor shades can be as unique as your business.

Shade sails

Shade sails are also popular, especially at restaurants that feature outdoor eating areas. Rather than having a steel frame under the fabric, shade sails are held up by tension or with cables. If you are wanting more shade at a playground, park, school, or perhaps an event center, shade sails can be fantastic.

Rolling shutters

Rolling shutters can also work well to provide shade and additional security to inside rooms or to outdoor areas such as patios. Just like commercial outdoor shades, commercial shutters can be easily customized to fit all types of windows and doors. Best of all, if they are hurricane-grade shutters, they can also withstand storms and hard impacts from sudden wind gusts. 

Choosing The Right Shade Structure for Your Business

Size

When choosing commercial shutters for an area where you may have picnic tables or perhaps a swimming pool, remember to make the size of the shutters a top priority. If the outdoor space you have is a very large area, you may want to consider another option, such as a retractable awning or shade sail. Should you have a very large area you want shaded, such as an outdoor tennis or basketball court, a superspan structure may be the perfect choice. Able to provide shade to structures more than 40 feet long, the most common superspan structures used in these areas are six-post rectangular models.

Additional Features

Finally, we suggest you also think about other features you may want included in your commercial shade structures. For example, although most fabrics found on retractable awnings and canopies come with various levels of standard UV protection, you may want fabric that comes with higher levels of coating for additional protection against sun damage.

Quick-Release Options

A quick-release option may also be a good idea, especially if you get a shade sail. When harsh weather suddenly arrives, you can quickly take down your shade structure before it gets damaged. 

Electrical Access

Last but not least, some commercial shade structures can be equipped to offer electrical access, which would be excellent if you own a restaurant with an outdoor area. With this feature, you could then add lights, audio speakers, or other extras to your shade structure.

Find Out More Today

If you are feeling overwhelmed about the variety of commercial shade structures available today, you’re not alone. Rather than only hope you make the right choice, find out more today by contacting us here at Rollac. Once you do, you will soon know which commercial shade structure will work best for you and your business.