6 Concession Stand Layout Ideas

A hot dog for game day or a big cloud of cotton candy makes concession stands a vital part of many sporting and outdoor events. Planning out your concession stand layout is vital to ensure efficiency and sales. An upgraded layout allows staff to move around, cook within limited space and display popular items without cluttering up the counter. Below we have some concession stand layout ideas that can help you keep it efficient and functional.

Building a Concession Stand

Be sure to plan out your space right at the start when building your concession stand. You want to build a space with the perfect layout for moving around in that also ensures enough space for storage and equipment.

• Determine where large equipment will go: Some large equipment might require hoods or large amounts of space. Try to determine where that equipment will go ahead of time so you can build room for those pieces of equipment. 


• Create shelving and storage space: Storing ingredients and inventory is vital so you can have everything you need on hand to satisfy customers. While building you should plan for space and shelving to be put in to store everything you need. 


• Consider customers’ needs: When it comes to the front of your concession stand and the countertop, keep your customers in mind. You want to make sure you have enough counter space for cash registers, cashier shields and for customers’ food to sit while you ring them up. That way they won’t feel cramped while checking out.


• Aisle space: While employees are working in a concession stand they need room to move around to work efficiently. Make sure the space has a floor plan that considers the aisle space and that the flow of it moves nicely. 

Concession Stand Layout Ideas

Once a concession stand is built and you’re setting up you’ll want to plan your layout so it maximizes your sales and lets your employees work efficiently. Your layout is an important part of  running a concession stand. So, here are 6 concession stand layout ideas to try.

• Plan out counter space for upselling and customers: Your counter space needs room for customers to pay for their food. You should however also plan for room for display merchandisers and foods to work as impulse buys. This is a great tactic to generate sales by placing irresistible foods and candies right in front of the customer as they pay.


• Assign where things are stores: Having your storage space planned out with what will go where can help you organize inventory to ensure it all fits. By having it all preassigned too you won’t have to worry about not having room for ingredients when new inventory shipments arrive.


• Keep hot side equipment separate from cold side: You may have a mix of refrigeration equipment and hot cooking equipment. You want to keep them in separate zones of your concession stand kitchen to ensure they work properly. 


• Create work zones: Keeping zones that employees stay in to do their work will help keep people from moving around and bumping into each other. Assign one person to work the grill and another who stays at the register. 


• Optimize how customers pay: There’s a lot of options for cash registers and how people pay these days. Try to find one that gives enough payment options but takes up as little counter space as possible. That way you can save counter space for customers and marketing.


• Find equipment that can do it all: When laying out your space, you have to lay out and plan your equipment accordingly. So try to find equipment that can do more than one thing. That way equipment won’t consume all of your space. You can even find equipment that houses a griddle, oven and stove top in one.