Spending time outside allows people to decompress and enjoy the sunshine and fresh air. However, many Americans of all ages don’t spend enough time outside compared to past years. With the rise of technology and work-from-home routines, it’s important for people to get back to spending time outside, even if it’s simply when they’re running errands or hosting an event.
Adding commercial shade structures to your outdoor property can attract customers to your location and make being outside more comfortable and inviting, prompting customers and visitors to stay longer and return more frequently. No matter your business or organization, commercial shades can provide numerous benefits for your property, from sun protection to better exterior curb appeal.
Learn how to use these structures to benefit your patrons below.
5 Benefits of Commercial Shade Structures
Shade structures make the experience at public properties much more pleasant and safe for guests and visitors. As a result, shade structures can encourage patrons to choose your business over others.
Here are several shade structure benefits to consider:
1. Provides Sun Protection
While soaking up the sun is certainly fun for children and adults, it may not be enjoyable on extremely hot days. During the summer months when temperatures are very high, it can be uncomfortable for your customers and guests to stand outside for long periods of time with no shade.
Whether you own a business or work as an architect designing outdoor spaces, it’s important to consider how shade structures can make your outdoor area look and feel more attractive for customers and visitors. For example, the sun glaring down on visitors at an outdoor sports event or playground would make it difficult for them to see.
Providing commercial shade structures allows customers to take a break from the sun and prevents them from being exposed to sunburns and harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays.
2. Reduces Temperatures
In addition to protection from the sun and glare, shade structures help reduce the temperature in the area and entice people to stay longer at your property. Extreme heat on a sunny day can cause dehydration, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Warning signs of these issues can prompt guests to leave early to escape the heat.
However, spending time outdoors at lower temperatures provides many benefits, such as encouraging people to exercise, relieving stress and reducing screen time. With commercial shade structures, your business or school can attract your community to spend more time outside without the intense effects of too much heat.
Shade structures block direct sunlight, cool down areas and create natural air circulation to keep everyone comfortable.
3. Makes Public Spaces Inviting and Comfortable
Aside from the sun and heat, commercial shade structures create a fun and welcoming space that fits your customer’s and guests’ needs. For instance, shade structures at a school or public playground allow parents to find a place to sit and relax while their students and kids play. An outdoor event with shade structures prevents people in business attire from getting overheated.
Shade structures benefit everyone, including those who are more susceptible to overheating and sun poisoning. Adding shade structures to your outdoor space can make it more inclusive for guests of all ages. Having adequate shade at your location, even in your parking lots, can also encourage guests to stay longer knowing their vehicles won’t overheat.
4. Protects Your Property
Having plenty of shade at your location can keep your outdoor structures and furniture from cracking or deteriorating from the intense heat and direct sun. Installing a shade structure over your playground, walkways or seating areas can keep UV light from causing damage to your property.
As a result, you can increase your business investment’s longevity and usability without having to replace furniture or equipment too often. Further, customers and guests are more drawn to businesses that keep their property in good condition, so you may see an increase in patronage if you invest in shade structures to better maintain your furniture and equipment.
5. Adds Visual Appeal
While the main purpose of shade structures is to keep customers cool and comfortable, they’re also eye-catching and can help draw attention to your location or business. Colorful, custom shade structures add a unique look to your outdoor environment. If you install shades that align with your branding, you can be more recognizable to patrons.
Your business can even create a shade structure that matches the color of your building or your brand’s logo to make your space look more attractive. People walking or driving in your community will certainly notice these features and be more likely to check out your property.
10 Ways to Use Shade Structures
If your business wants to add visual appeal to your property and keep your guests comfortable, shade structures are an ideal solution. Covering your outdoor areas allows you to create an inviting, enjoyable space for all visitors — no matter what type of business or public location you own. There are various ways you can use shade structures to get the most out of your investment and satisfy your patrons.
Here are 10 commercial shade structure uses for your property:
1. Playgrounds
Shading outdoor playgrounds allows children to play comfortably year-round and gives adults a relaxing space to sit and supervise. With proper shade, play equipment like slides and monkey bars are less hot to the touch. Therefore, your outdoor playground can be used on a wider range of days, bringing more people to your location and encouraging kids to engage in imaginative, active play.
While being out in the sunshine is essential for getting vitamin D, children can achieve this in as little as 15 minutes on bright and hot days, meaning a two-hour long stay at the playground can lead to excessive exposure. Without shade structures, your playground can quickly become unbearable on hot days and increase the risk of sun damage for children. Overexposure to sun and UV rays can have long-term health effects on children.
Since UV rays are often at their peak during the summer — when most children are off from school and want to play outside — installing shade structures can prevent families from choosing another playground or activity center over yours. Likewise, having plenty of shade will entice them to stay longer and come back more frequently because they won’t feel as tired or overheated thanks to the cooler temperatures under the shade.
Finally, shading your outdoor playground prevents your equipment from being too hot to play on and can boost its longevity. Play structures that are constantly exposed to direct heat and sunlight may fade, discolor, chip or crack.
2. Restaurants
If you’re a restaurant or bar owner, you know your customers love to enjoy a relaxing meal outside when the weather is nice. Without any shading, however, excessive heat can make your outdoor dining area unusable. As a result, you have less seating to offer customers as they enter your restaurant, making you have a longer waitlist and potentially losing business.
By installing commercial shade structures in your outdoor environment, you can add more tables and seating to your space and allow customers to enjoy their meals and drinks outside. This extra space can help prevent congestion indoors as people wait to be seated and even attract more customers who see your aesthetically pleasing outdoor space while looking to grab dinner. Shade structures allow you to use your outside area more often and offer your customers more options.
Whether you’re experiencing high temperatures during summer, you won’t have to close down your outside area due to the weather. Instead, you can offer a more comfortable experience to guests all year and encourage them to come to your establishment.
3. Parking Lots
By installing commercial shade structures in your parking lot, you can protect vehicles and provide a more comfortable experience for customers walking to and from your establishment. While protecting vehicles from heat, shade structures also shield them from hail damage and falling debris from trees, creating a safe environment customers can trust their vehicles in.
In addition, parking lot shade structures can help protect asphalt from sun damage, which means you can extend its usability and prevent it from cracking much sooner. Shade can do the same for your pavement and sidewalks by slowing down deterioration and ensuring your outdoor space looks much better visually.
Adding shade structures around your property reduces the energy you need to crank up your A/C inside to cool everyone off and keep them comfortable. Finally, for businesses with pay-to-park locations, having covered parking allows you to charge more thanks to the benefits of the shades.
4. Event Spaces
Owning an even space means having a backup plan to move guests indoors when the weather is too hot. Whether you’re hosting a wedding, setting up a concert venue or planning a weekend convention, it’s important to keep guests comfortable and prevent the weather from spoiling their event.
Commercial shade structures help prevent unexpected hot temperatures from damaging the decorations at an event or prompting guests to leave an outdoor concert early. Event spaces can also implement solar shade structures so that visitors and vendors can have power sources and shade in one place. Putting the time, money and effort into an event only for it to be ruined can be frustrating for everyone involved.
Aside from the events mentioned, shade structures can be used for many other outdoor events, such as:
- Farmers markets
- Festivals
- Birthday parties
- School field days
- Meetings and corporate events
- Barbecues
With modern sun shade systems, you can quickly impress your guests and visitors and get them to inquire about hosting their upcoming wedding or business convention at your location. Soon, the word will spread about your property and how convenient and relaxing your outdoor environment is for large groups.
5. Sports Games
If you’re a parent — or simply remember attending sports events as a child — you know how miserable it can be to sit in the stands for hours with no air conditioning, especially during the summer. It’s important to allow guests to support their friends and loved ones participating in outdoor games by adding shade to keep them comfortable.
Without shade, guests can quickly become hot and sweaty, which will likely not make them crave any snacks or meals from your food truck or concessions stands. This can make guests leave early to cool off in their cars and cause you to lose business.
You can also add shade structures on the field itself or on the side where other players remain during the game. If it’s a hot day, the players may struggle to see with the sun’s glare or become overheated. By adding commercial shade structures to your sports facility, you can protect players and allow them to play to the best of their ability in comfort any time of year.
6. Hotels
It only takes one guest having a bad experience at your hotel and writing a review to drop your ratings and prevent travelers from booking with you. One of the simplest ways your hotel can enhance your guest’s overall experience is by ensuring their comfort with shade structures. Whether you add them to your parking lot, pool deck, bar, lounge or outdoor entertainment area, your hotel can provide guests with plenty of shade to escape the heat and enjoy their vacation.
Guests are a top priority, but it’s also essential to consider how you can improve your hotel for your employees, as well. Adding shade structures to any of these areas makes it easier for your staff members to do their jobs without being exposed to excessive heat. Your hotel can even add shade to your loading and unloading areas so your staff remains cool while lifting and hauling heavy shipments.
Just as with outdoor restaurants and parks, shade structures allow your hotel to keep your amenities open for year-round use so guests can enjoy your outdoor dining and bring their children to your hotel playground. The better their experience, the more likely they’ll talk positively about your hotel and attract more customers to your business.
7. Churches
Many churches and places of worship often have outdoor areas, either for the whole congregation to gather or to host events and activities during the week. Shade structures create a more welcoming space for visitors and can prevent them from leaving the service early due to extreme heat.
If your church or place of worship is trying to attract more members to build your community, shade structures can be an effective way to catch someone’s eye and let them know you value their comfort. You can cover your outdoor area, parking lot, walkways and playgrounds for children to ensure an enjoyable and relaxing experience from the moment your visitors set foot on your property.
If your entire service is outdoors, shade structures can also prevent children from becoming overheated and antsy, resulting in parents having to take them to the car to cool off. Keeping your guests shielded from the sun means they can attend your service uninterrupted and leave with a positive impression of your property.
8. Schools/Daycares
Schools and daycares are one of the top places where children spend time doing outdoor activities. Between field days, recess, sports and physical education classes, there are more than enough opportunities for kids to enjoy being active. Most schools and daycares have some type of outdoor playground or play area, which means adding shade can create the same benefits as it does on public playgrounds.
Teachers and school staff can comfortably supervise children while kids can climb, swing and play under shade structures. Having this environment makes the experience more enjoyable for everyone and prevents children from losing recess time if temperatures are too hot. Without shade, teachers may be inclined to end recess early or cancel it altogether to prevent children from overheating or becoming too tired to focus on their schoolwork.
Daycare staff may also decide to keep toddlers indoors if their playground equipment is too hot to the touch from direct sunlight. You can also use shade structures in walkways and pickup areas so school and daycare staff can remain comfortable while working car lines and helping parents pick up their children.
9. Auto Dealerships
Similar to the benefits your business would get when installing shade structures in parking lots, auto dealerships can also gain an advantage with shade. Perhaps the most important priority of a car dealership is to protect inventory, keeping it in top shape for customers who come to see the cars in person and take them for a test drive.
Cars that sit out in the direct sun can start to show the effects of heat damage, such as chipping paint, poor fuel circulation, uneven tire pressure and cracking parts. This damage can cost your dealership more money in the long run and give customers a bad impression if they see your vehicles aren’t well-maintained. Adding shade structures also prevents hail damage on your dealership vehicles and keeps them looking like new, which can help attract customers.
10. Outdoor Retail Locations
Many businesses have outdoor spaces that can benefit from various types of shade structures. Whether you own an outdoor shopping center, convenience store, department store, grocery store, boutique or similar retail location, your business can add shade structures to create a better experience for your customers.
For instance, installing shade structures in your parking lots, walkways, outdoor seating areas or outside the front of your store to protect your inventory displays can prevent damage from heat, keep your property in good condition and enhance the retail experience.
Not to mention, your retail business can add convenience with shade by letting customers walk comfortably to and from your store without having to struggle with umbrellas and sunglasses to avoid the sun’s glare. Shade structures can also add curb appeal to your store and attract customers from the road.
Find Custom Shade Structures to Fit Your Needs With USA SHADE
As you can see, having shade structures can keep your customers and guests happy with their experience at your property and encourage them to come back. The right shade structures add aesthetically pleasing comfort and style to your location and shield your visitors and their vehicles from sun damage.
Commercial shade structures also extend the life span of your outdoor equipment. USA SHADE offers customized shade structure solutions that fit seamlessly into any location. With high-quality materials and versatile colors and shapes, USA SHADE has everything you need to build a functional and protective solution to meet your unique needs.
Reach out to our team and request a quote today to discover how USA SHADE can transform your location and help you attract more business.
