How to Set Up Your Local Deli in 7 Easy Steps

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Contrary to widespread belief, a local deli is so much more than a quick sandwich grab. A credible delicatessen has what it takes to equally excel at breakfast, lunch, and even dinner. A deli can be an extremely lucrative business venture if the proprietor knows how to foster the right ambiance that would garner the attention of passersby and lure them in. While top-notch quality and impeccable service gleans long term, content customers, it is the format and setup of the deli that dictates the success it gleans. Here’s how you can diligently plan and organize your deli to render it a good name.

Step 1

To kick start your business, you have to decide which type of deli you want to operate. While some smaller delis contend with offering sandwiches and salads on the go, others are bigger sit-down restaurant affairs, providing snacks and meals around the clock. In addition, delis come in various ethnicities and genres, including American, German, Italian, and Jewish.

Step 2

Choose a space that would suit your deli. While full service delis need zoned and restaurant proportion spaces, equipped with a state of the art kitchen and commendable display cases with LED display case lighting, a small business only needs a small retail space. Also consider your demographics and neighborhood. If you are situated in proximity of a business center, you would draw in a hefty flow of lunch patrons but only minimal diners, while a deli in a suburban area would fear better at breakfast and dinner than lunch. To enhance your customer flow, also think about factors such as, visibility, parking, and foot traffic.

Step 3

Design your restaurant making the best of your space. Sketch out a layout including restrooms, seating area, counters, kitchen equipment and any other aspect of space. This would help you determine the decor you need to purchase to bring life to your proposition.

Step 4

Purchase all the kitchen equipment, such as commercial refrigerators, toasters, dishwashers, cutting boards, meat slicers, microwaves, ovens, steam trays, ranges, char broiler, grills, and deli display cases equipped with specialty LED food lighting.

Step 5

Furnish your deli with elegant tables, booths, chairs, counters, televisions, sound systems, and display cases to flaunt your products. Lighting is a vital element to get right when refurbishing your deli. The right lighting at the right places can enhance the aesthetics of the entire display and bring out the most flattering colors in the products. However, these high end, but perishable, deli produce are highly sensitive to temperature or lighting and are prone to go bad. Thus, if these display cases are outfitted with regular display lights, which emit high levels of IR and UV radiation, especially in the UV-B and UV-A range, all your efforts will go down the drain. These emissions enhance the surface temperature of deli products – leading to accelerated spoilage, and boosting the rate at which the products will lose their freshness, emit unpleasant odor, and discolor. Only LED display case lighting systems are deemed appropriate for exposure to perishable items. Make sure that your deli display cases only incorporate the best in specialty LED lighting on the market to enhance the shelf life of your products and retain their freshness.

Step 6

Look for an esteemed supplier for produce, meat, and general restaurant supplies. The taste and freshness of meat is indispensable to the success of a deli, so sample products from a plethora of meat suppliers before settling on one.

Step 7

Bedeck your deli to render it the right ambiance and tone you desire. Adorn the walls with posters, photos, or paintings pertinent to the feel of your establishment. Also consider incorporating plants, window treatments and exquisite curtains to your decor.