Posted by Sam Sears, CEC on May 30, 19100 at 19:40:55 :
In Reply to: Linens posted by JWCHEF on May 30, 19100 at 01:45:25 :
: Hello I along with another Chef own a medium sized catering company 250.000 receipts in the southeast.
: This is all from catering as we have no retail.
: One issue that has always been bothersome is linens.
: We are charged $12.00 to rent so we of course pass that on to our client. We have accumulated a large amount of linen and often wash and rent for full profit. Problem is bringing to cleaner cost the same as rental and ironing is impossible. We can probably purchase for $18. Have seen ads in Special Events
: with rentals at 5.50 per cloth. Are they good. Shipping $$$ Reliable. Any usefull hints abut linen. Ive seen on this message board people talking about linens for $3.50 not here. Where???
: We included food table linens in price but breakout guest table linen.
: Also what are you'll charging for ice???
It is my firm belief that you should continue renting linen, there is a lot of $$$ to be had renting linen (or rental cos would not do it), but linens are a "perishable" item, as they loose their newness easy.....yes there are national rental cos that have a great selection, but you must add in that shipping charge and give yourself a day or two lead time in case of delay..I have tried the linen & napkin route to make additional money, but I found that that is a specialized business, better left to the pros, pass that cost along and stick to catering, we do rent some equip to our clients, silver plated chafers, 5'grills, propane stoves, ect....that we have purchase, but these items wear much better than any linen........just my thoughts...........also, ice....we add in the retail cost of ice & make a profit from it,........Sam