A Start to 2022 Trade Shows with Restaurant “Doors Made to Order” and more!
Restaurant Facilities Management Association (RFMA) Annual Conference
Special-Lite attended the 2022 Restaurant Facilities Management Association (RFMA) Annual Conference in Nashville, TN from March 13th-15th. The RFMA Annual Conference is an opportunity for restaurant facility professionals to build relationships, attend education sessions, share industry knowledge and discover new products and solutions for their brand(s).
Our booth showcased “Doors Made to Order”– our custom door-making ability for durable restaurant back doors, branded front entrances, and interiors. Our team of expert craftspeople built 3 custom doors on rotating door stands for the exhibit, with each side of the door showing a different custom capability.
The first door, showing branded front entrance capabilities, featured our Rustic 6-Panel door face in Oak stain on one side, and our Smooth Aluminum face sheet in a custom red painted finish on the other. The door was completed with the addition of Burns Manufacturing hardware, including a custom pull plate they produce for a prominent restaurant chain, and a sleek round pull on the aluminum side. Both pulls were in the finish US10B (dark bronze powder coat on brass base metal).
The second door, also showing branded front entrance options, was our SL-14 Monumental Aluminum Stile and Rail Door with our exclusive foam-injected midpanel featuring a custom logo design. We chose a dark bronze finish for this door, with a contrasting red logo in the smooth aluminum midpanel. A Dark Bronze SL-100 Surface-Mounted Door pull completed the first side. On the reverse side, the midpanel featured our Wood Expressions finish on aluminum in American Cherry.
Finally, we showcased our best-selling back-of-house door solution for back doors in abusive environments, the SpecLite 3 pebble grain FRP door skin. For hardware, this side had our SL-100 Surface-Mounted Door pull in Dark Bronze finish. The opposite side of the final door displayed our Contemporary Cherry Wood Grain in American Cherry finish for both interior and exterior doors. The Contemporary Wood Grain door was completed with Trimco’s URP (Ultimate Restroom Pull) in Satin Stainless Steel finish, which has a special design that allows the user to pull the door open using their arm without having to “grip” the pull. Our booth also featured a display of restaurant Identity Hardware by Trimco.
Our team met with key facility decision-makers from major restaurant chains across the country to discuss our Made-to-Order approach to restaurant doors. From supporting first impressions and store branding with our realistic wood grain fiberglass doors and custom logo mid-panel storefront doors to providing durable rust-free, low-maintenance back doors and interior doors that last. Attendees had the chance to sign up at the booth and find out if their restaurant is eligible to receive a made-to-order entrance “on the house” to put our claims to the test.
Teaming Up for Success – Regional Events
In addition to national or corporate trade shows, you can find our local independent rep network at a variety of regional, state, and local conferences and events.
In late February, ASH Associates and Alliance Architectural Solutions, Inc. (formerly Quixsilver Systems) teamed up with Special-Lite RSM Bill Munafo for the Coalition for Adequate School Housing Annual Conference (CASH) in Sacramento, California. Since ASH covers Southern CA and AAS covers Northern CA, it made sense for them to team up for a booth. The annual conference draws more than 2000 school facility professionals!
In March, Susan Henshaw from The Bekon Group attended the Western Pennsylvania Facilities Directors Association (PASBO) show with their specialty door customer AB Specialties (pictured above), presenting Special-Lite’s school door solutions to school facility leaders across Pennsylvania. Susan says, “In all the years we’ve been attending this show, this year has been the most successful that we’ve seen. We were able to connect with over 20 school districts.”
We look forward to the rest of the 2022 trade show season and supporting our regional and national events to bring our secure, durable, made-to-order commercial door solutions to more groups that can put our doors to the test and solve their door and hardware maintenance problems!