Trade Show Season has Arrived

We are coming into trade show season here at Classic Displays and with so many new products to show off we are more excited than ever! Trade shows are an important part of our business model as it’s a great way to make new connections as well as get some face time with a number of our existing customers.

 The season officially kicks off this week in Baltimore at the National Facilities Management & Technology (NFMT) show, which will be a first for us. Along with our new Griffin (that we unveiled at last year’s PM Expo) we will have our new indoor waste container the Centry, the Classic Heritage bench which is the latest in older adult seating, as well the Phoenix, our best selling outdoor waste container. We will even be unveiling a new knockdown waste container, the K Series!

Throughout the year we like to ensure we are involved in as many trade shows as we can so that we can reach our diverse market. We already sell many of our products into the U.S., but because it’s such a huge market that we want to further expand in, NFMT is a perfect show to make new contacts and build new relationships.

From there the whirlwind of trade shows continues with a number of shows booked into the month of May. Those shows include:

• Springfest, April 10, Metro Toronto Convention Centre
• National BIA Conference, April 27-29, Hamilton Convention Centre
• OSUM Conference & Trade Show, April 30-May 1, Bobby Orr Community Centre, Parry Sound
• CSLA Congress Ottawa, May 31, Chateau Laurier Hotel

After that we get a bit of a break but will be exhibiting at a couple of trade shows in the fall that will be announced once they are confirmed.

If you are planning on attending any of these shows be sure to stop by and say hello to members of our sales staff and check out what we have to offer. With so many new and exciting products having been unveiled late last year and more coming, you’re bound to see something there that you haven’t seen before!

Let Classic Displays do your Spring Cleaning

It’s been a rough winter with a lot of snow, but finally the temperature is slowly starting to creep back up the thermometer! Warmer temperatures means the snow will start to melt and some of your site furniture (that may have been lost in a snow pile) may soon be seen again! And what you see may not be pretty. With all the snow and ice comes a lot of salt and abuse on your site furniture, not to mention the amount of sidewalk plows that go by that may knick a bench or waste receptacle from time to time.

Although our products are built to withstand the weather, the type of winter we’ve had does start to take its toll. Much like we have to wash the salt stains off the bottoms of our pants and shoes, your site furniture requires the same type of care.

While we haven’t quite seen the last of the snow, you may want to consider checking the condition of your site furniture and if it looks like it’s going to need a good spring cleaning consider letting Classic Displays do it for you! We offer a wide variety of maintenance services to keep our customers’ site furniture looking its best!

Salt can do a number on site furniture; while it won’t necessarily leave any long term damage it certainly leaves things looking dingy. To combat this problem we offering power washing services within the GTA. Just give us a map that shows where all of the pieces are located and we will come give everything a good wash.

In the event the salt has done enough damage to cause the paint to chip off of your bench legs, or a snow plow has dinged it, we can clean up and repaint those legs on or off site. Other minor onsite repairs we offer include replacing damaged boards on a bench as well as hinges and locks on waste receptacles. If you have items that require major repairs we can come remove that particular bench or waste receptacle and reinstall it once the repairs have taken place at our warehouse.

To find out more about our maintenance services give us a call at 905-282-8888, because as much as everyone is looking forward to the arrival of spring, no one really wants to do the spring cleaning that comes with it!

Become a Zero Waste Business

We are excited to announce that just before the Christmas break we became a founding member of the U.S. Zero Waste Business Council! The mission of the USZWBC is to educate, inform and document the performance of Zero Waste Businesses using scientific methods to help businesses and communities become more healthy and sustainable. With a shared interest in helping others reduce waste and us as a company working hard to reduce waste it was the perfect fit.

Wanting to assist our customers get closer to becoming a Zero Waste Business, our line of recycling units is constantly growing and evolving to meet their needs. At Classic Displays, we want to ensure that regardless of what kind of business our customer runs, or what type of materials they recycle, we have a unit that suits the environment. From sleek smaller desk side units that can be used to recycle anything from batteries to confidential paper, to larger units for shared spaces, even units designed specifically for the recycling of coffee cups, we have everything to make recycling within an office environment the easy choice. And it’s not just businesses that work from an office that we have recycling solutions for. With a large number of exterior and interior recycling bins we have containers that would benefit large commercial properties, municipalities, warehouses, anything really.

For us it’s not only important to help our customers reduce waste in the work place, but it’s essential for us to practice what we preach. It’s easy enough for us to reduce waste as we manufacture the proper tools to do so, but we don’t stop there. With a strong commitment to sustainability we focus on manufacturing environmentally friendly products through the use of recycled materials. The majority of our site furniture is manufactured from recycled plastic and aluminum, even our holiday displays are manufactured with low power consumption LED lighting and we participate in a banner recycling program which keeps a number of old banners from ending up in landfills. That means all of our divisions are participating in some form of recycling and we are continually looking for ways to further our recycling initiatives.

Working towards becoming a Zero Waste Business is not only important for the environment in helping to reduce litter and pollution and cutting greenhouse gases, but it’s also beneficial to the business itself. Zero waste businesses save money, are more efficient and create jobs and more value for their business and the community. With those kinds of benefits and the tools and resources available to assist you, why not take your first step to becoming a Zero Waste Business today!

For more information on the USZWBC and how to become a Zero Waste Business visit http://www.uszwbc.org/

Curing the Winter Blues

It’s been a cold, cold winter and unfortunately it’s still far from over, causing many to get stuck with the winter blues. As it gets harder to remember what a full day of sun and warmth felt like, it’s important to remember that nicer weather is on its way and preparing for that weather could help shake those blues away.

We may only be a couple of weeks into the new year, and we don’t yet know the outcome of Groundhog Day, however there really is no better time to start preparing for the warmer weather and taking stock of your current outdoor furniture to determine what you may need to add to your park, BIA, municipality or commercial/retail property.

It’s important to understand the benefits of outdoor furniture when you are considering what to order, so to help with this let’s look at a couple of examples of how certain products benefit BIAs and commercial/retail properties.

With BIAs encouraging its surrounding residence to shop local, it’s important to ensure their BIA has what the consumer wants, and that’s not just a variety of shops and amenities. Benches, bike racks and proper waste and recycling units are the most important outdoor furniture to have in a BIA.

Benches automatically make an area more inviting to a consumer. If there is somewhere to sit to just take a break, or enjoy an ice cream cone from a local shop on a sunny day, people are more inclined to visit the area. With biking becoming an even more popular mode of transportation, it’s important to offer proper bike parking so people don’t have to worry about leaving their bikes unattended while inside a store and to ensure your BIA doesn't become a dumping ground, proper waste and recycling receptacles are a must. Small foot print units can ensure proper disposal of waste without interrupting pedestrian flow.

Retail properties such as shopping plazas benefit from site furniture in many of the same ways as BIAs. However, commercial and even residential properties such as corporate office buildings and condominiums can greatly enhance their properties with the use of outdoor furniture.

With large multi-resident buildings, whether it’s residential or commercial, it’s important to maintain a clean exterior. To do this not only are proper waste and recycling receptacles important, but smoking control units are imperative. Cigarette butts are often times the worst culprit for littering a property, so to have set smoking areas with proper disposal units can really help to combat the problem. It’s also important to have a nice break area that includes picnic tables and benches, especially if you’re an office building, so your tenants have somewhere to enjoy the nice weather while eating lunch or taking a quick break from staring at their computer screens. And again, for those that commute using their bikes, it’s important to have bike racks to allow for proper storage.

Depending on your budget, you can stick to the basics or you can further enhance your property with floral planters, pole mounted floral baskets or banners that can assist in branding your BIA, municipality or office building.

Apart from helping clear your winter blues, planning for the spring/summer months can have its financial benefits. We are currently running an early bird promotion that allows you to receive from 10-15% off any products, ordered, produced and invoiced before March 31, 2014. Delivery or installation can be delayed until closer to the time the products are required. Ordering now also means you will beat the spring time rush allowing for shorter lead times.

Bottom line, don’t wait for Wiarton Willie or Punxsutawney Phil to tell you how many weeks of winter may or may not be left, it may not feel like it but spring will be here before you know it and you want to be prepared to enjoy it!

Store your Décor with Classic Displays

For many municipalities and property managers, Christmas décor is a huge investment. It takes a lot of time to decide what displays best suit your environment and how many you require. Another big factor is determining how you will maintain these large pieces and where you will store them.

It’s important to understand that although a number of our Christmas displays are manufactured for outdoor use, and are able to withstand the elements, they should not be stored outdoors when they are not being used. When pieces are stored outside, various elements such as animals and extended exposure to UV rays can affect the lifespan of your displays.

We understand that a number of our customers don’t have room to store their displays indoors so to help alleviate this storage nightmare we will store the décor in our climate controlled, 16,000 square foot facility for them. While in the care of Classic Displays the units are carefully placed on interior racking with more than 2/3 of the items being stored off the ground.

As the displays start to come back to the warehouse as the season begins to come to a close all of the pieces are cleaned by hand and some by power washer to reduce any grime that may bind to the decoration.

If you aren’t totally convinced, maybe this next point will help. All décor stored with us is fully insured. In the event something happens to your displays while it’s in our care, you will be compensated.

Storing your décor with Classic Displays, even if purchased from another company, will help make your seasons bright for years to come.

The Christmas Season Comes to a Close at Classic Displays

With the final Christmas installs complete and Santa coming in less than a week, we get to take a step back and reflect on another successful season at Classic Displays.

It has been a busy few months for us, starting with the introduction of our new LED snowflakes. From there the orders started pouring in; we had existing customers calling to renew contracts and add new décor to their existing displays and also received a number of calls from new customers looking to add a touch of Christmas to their properties and city streets.

Before we knew it, 239 units had been ordered in the month of September alone. That included the first order for one of our new snowflake designs, coming from the Ancaster Heritage Days Advisory Board, and a large order of a variety of our displays from Lac La Biche in Alberta.

While production ramped up in October, and our warehouse crew began packing and shipping existing displays that we store for our customers in the off season, our installation crew began installing tree lighting across the GTA. Once Halloween had come and gone, it began to look less like Christmas in our warehouse and more like Christmas to everyone else, as displays began popping up practically overnight.

On any given night in November, our crews could be anywhere in Toronto, and the next they would be in Cambridge, or Bowmanville or Kingston, working hard to bring the Christmas spirit to the masses. Luckily for them, the weather was on their side and the snow held off until after our installations were finished.

When all was said and done 520 new units had been produced and 180 installs had been completed.  As the team at Classic Displays looks forward to a relaxing Christmas holiday spent with family and friends, we want to take a moment to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and all the best in 2014!

The Griffin Unveiled at the PM Expo

Last week we had the pleasure of exhibiting at the PM Expo for the 15^th time and although we always enjoy the show, this year it was even more special for us. That’s because we unveiled the prototype of our newest waste and recycling receptacle the Griffin.

Designed with high traffic pedestrian areas in mind, the Griffin has a narrow footprint and is equipped with solar powered LED panels making this unit an advertiser’s dream. Built to hold a total of 80 gallons of waste, the Griffin can collect up to 4 different types of waste and recycling without having to worry about cross contamination. More basic models will also be available.

Over the two and a half days at the show, the Griffin caught a lot of people’s eye and we greatly appreciate the number of people that stopped by to learn more about the unit and share their thoughts.

Stay tuned for more news as we prepare for the official launch of the Griffin this coming spring!