Retractable Awnings

How Retractable Awnings Can Grow Your Business

If you own a business, help manage commercial properties, or track profit margins, you’re always looking for ways to cut costs, generate cash flow, and multiply your exposure. Retractable awnings can impact your bottom line directly by helping you lower utility costs, enhance outdoor areas, and increase your building’s capacity. You could consider those the primary, or more obvious, commercial benefits of awnings, but there are others. When it comes to design and promotion, awnings have more to offer. Here’s a rundown.

If you keep up with branding and logo styles in the commercial world, you’ve noticed that retail businesses are aiming for simpler, clean-lined styles. The idea is that consumers prefer a straightforward, low-key shopping experience without a lot of clutter and glitz, as embodied in the old department stores. Awnings come into play when you consider exterior design, since they have clean lines, bright colors, and a contemporary vibe that creates strong visual appeal. This makes awnings eye-catching. They can break up a building’s facade and can be helpful in defining a company’s trademark look.

But beyond the eye-candy, retractable awnings can serve a more direct promotional turn. As businesses look for new ways to meet their marketing goals, it is becoming popular to use outside awnings as signage, combining design utility with visually appealing logo presentation. Recent improvements in the technology that goes into awning production—fabrics and printing methods—result in high-quality, durable text and logos. If businesses are located in a high traffic area, the potential for awnings as advertisements rises considerably. For commercial properties that are off the beaten track, awning with printed brands and logos make the company easy to find.

In addition, retractable awnings are increasingly a green design choice, as businesses work to become energy efficient. They cut UV rays and glare by 94 percent and reduce exterior heat retention by 77 percent, which lowers interior temperatures by 8 to 15 degrees. This cuts utility costs by 25 to 34 percent (American Society of Heating and Air Conditioning Engineers)—not a small achievement. With low up-front cost, virtually no maintenance, and compliance with environmental and safety codes, retractable awnings have potential to positively impact a business’s bottom line.

And for the time being, awnings stand out. With only 2 percent market saturation in the US in 2008, they are still not ubiquitous. No doubt that’s why they’re becoming increasingly popular with businesses like Panera Bread, Applebee’s and Dillards—franchises that like to push the marketing envelope. If you’re interested in learning more about the market, take a look at How to Choose Your Awnings.

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20 Fast Facts on Retractable Awnings

Here’s a quick and dirty list of facts about today’s retractable awnings to help you understand what they accomplish and why they are growing popular.

If you’re wondering why this article is not in-depth, the answer is that it’s not supposed to be! This is the beach-read of awnings education.

But no worries, if you’d like more detailed information, check out some of the other articles on the site.

Here are some fast awning facts:

  1. Retractable awnings are essentially large pieces of indestructible weather-proof fabric stretched on a frame and attached to your house or business. This is what you call simple genius.
  2. They need about 6 inches of horizontal unobstructed wall or roof space to be installed.
  3. They can be lowered or retracted in under a minute—either manually or with a remote control.
  4. Newer models have sensors that automatically unfurl the awnings on sunny days and retract them when a heavy downpour or very strong winds could cause damage.
  5. Can you say, “No maintenance?”
  6. Awnings serve an important function: controlling direct sunlight, which decreases heat and cuts UV rays.
  7. They serve as an outdoor extension of your home or business—and DIY-types like to create “outdoor rooms” with awnings that preserve the colors and vibes of the building itself.
  8. If you’re a business owner, a retractable awning can expand your commercial capacity without the need to hire a general contractor or architect.
  9. An increasing trend in marketing is to use awnings as commercial signage.
  10. When awnings are placed strategically over windows, they cut glare by 94 percent and exterior heating by 77 percent.
  11. Therefore, they lower inside temperatures by 8 to 15 degrees and cut air conditioning bills by 25 percent.
  12. In the real estate market, every dollar saved on utilities translates into $10 to $15 of resale value. If you do the math, awnings can conservatively add several thousand dollars of resale value to your home.
  13. Awnings give your residence a stylish curb appeal. And when you set out to choose awnings, the array of colors and styles available can be matched to your home type.
  14. They create unique new opportunities for atmosphere. Ever had a conversation over coffee “in the rain?” Used a hot tub while snow spirals down around you?
  15. Retractable awnings make for sun-bathing, lunch in the shade, a sun-warmed Autumn deck and stargazing—all in the same space.
  16. They can be strategically installed to cover rough patches on your home’s exterior, like that place the painters missed.
  17. They provide more living area for eating, talking, and entertaining.
  18. When installed over windows, they create cooler, more open rooms because there’s no longer a need to pull the blinds.
  19. They redeem patio, poolside and deck areas, making them more than swatches of blazing hot concrete and bleached-blond wood.
  20. Retractable awnings are trending green. They reduce electricity use, comply with EPA standards, and are made with sustainable materials.

Want to learn more? Take a look at The #1 Reason You Don’t Own Awnings.

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Retractable Awnings for Your Home

If you know anything about awnings, your impression is probably based on the ones you’ve seen on local businesses, or maybe on homes in your neighborhood. Awnings give a welcome splash of color to a building, add some personality—and at first glance that may seem like all they do. In reality, there are more basic (and more urgent) reasons why a growing number of home owners are investing in retractable awnings. Here’s a rundown of three big factors that might cause you to look at the market yourself.

Your home might benefit from retractable awnings if…

1. You have a patio or deck that feels like a sauna. Many home owners add outdoor expansions to their houses with the vision of lounging outside in the breeze, cooking on the grill, listening to the kids play and enjoying a cool drink. Unfortunately, scorching sunlight often makes decks and patios about as hospitable as a noontime desert, and home owners are forced to act like cautious animals, only coming out at dawn and dusk.

If this sounds familiar, you owe it to yourself to make your outdoor area truly fit for human habitation. Install retractable awnings, and you’ll be able to enjoy your back yard at any time of the day, and in any (non-violent) weather. By the same token, if you want to soak in the sun, the awning can be retracted in under a minute.

2. Direct sunlight frequently overheats your rooms. You’ll know this is going on if you often pull your blinds to help cool a room down, or if you’re concerned about direct sunlight bleaching out your indoor furniture. By installing awnings, you’ll be able to leave your blinds up, giving the interior of your house a more spacious feel. You’ll also save substantially on energy costs, as studies by the American Society of Heating and Air Conditioning Engineers have shown that awnings can lower interior heat in your home by as much as 77 percent. That will definitely cut your air conditioning bills.

3. Your home would benefit from extended living space. If you’ve seen the small awnings that protect second and third story windows, you may have missed one of the central reasons people invest in full-size, ground-level awnings: More space to live, talk, and eat in. By installing a large retractable awning, you’re effectively adding an outdoor room to your house. Awnings are a cost-effective way to enhance your home’s livability, hospitality potential, and resale value. They are easily-customized architectural additions, but don’t require a building inspection or permit to install.

Now you know some big picture reasons that home owners are investing in retractable awnings. There are more. If you think your house might be a candidate, check out the Insider’s Guide to Retractable Awnings. You could also scan How Awnings Can Add Resale Value to Your Home.

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