When selecting options for your store entrance, choosing high-quality materials is paramount, not just for beauty, but for safety as well. Since people equate beauty with quality, polished, professional glass design can inspire customer confidence. Whether you want to create an eye-catching storefront, or simply maintain safety and reduce liability, an investment in the safest, highest-quality materials is money well spent.
Updating a storefront can have other advantages beyond visual appeal. Windows and doors can affect your utility costs. Without energy efficient double-paned glass, you could be spending 15-20% more than you should on heating and cooling. And compared to a revolving door, a swinging door allows eight times as much air to pass in and out, potentially resulting in higher utility cost up to 75%. And a revolving door has the added benefit of keeping out more snow, rain, dust, etc. Add a Low-E coating, and now your storefront glass and doors are also protecting your merchandise, carpeting, and furniture from fading while helping to regulate air temperature. Now add the noise reduction factor that double-paned glass offers over single pane, and you’ve got the trifecta of beauty, energy efficiency and quietude.
Studies show that employee productivity and job satisfaction goes up in well-designed work spaces, and that mood is improved when employees have an exterior view with exposure to sunlight. Large picture windows brighten a space and make it feel more open, making your customers want to linger while also improving employee productivity up around 12% on average. For high drama on multi-story buildings, a full curtain wall (where the glass stretches from floor to ceiling across multiple floors) can make a big impact. When glass is used as the curtain wall, a great advantage is that natural light can penetrate deeper within the building, maximizing those satisfaction and productivity benefits.
Glass etching techniques are a fantastic way to incorporate branding onto your storefront. Surface etching is fast and easy, but by definition, the design must be reasonably simple to achieve the best effect. A more intricate, 3D look can be achieved through carving or sand-blasting artwork into the glass. Different elements can be carved at different depths, creating the visual separation between design elements, making your logo really pop. Designs are typically done in reverse so the carving is on the interior, but viewed through the smooth exterior. This makes cleaning the exterior of the glass a cinch.
Custom glass solutions to almost any specification can be created for your store, not just to draw customers in, but to entice them to buy. Beautiful glass display cases and glass shelving can feature your merchandise without distracting from it. So, when you are thinking about ways to increase sales, improve efficiency, and raise productivity levels, think about the dramatic effects of glass, and the crystal clear first impression it can help you make.