Retail & Café Counters / Display Joinery

Retail corners, café counters and lobby kiosks often do more to define the energy of a space than almost anything else. They are the touch points where guests order coffee, browse objects, check out and decide whether they will return. The joinery here has to work hard – carrying brand, managing queues, housing equipment and stock – while still feeling effortless.

At Make Bespoke Studio we design and deliver retail and café counters and display joinery for hotels, members’ clubs, mixed-use developments and standalone cafés – from a single lobby kiosk to an all-day dining counter with retail and grab-and-go. We work closely with interior designers, brand teams and operators to align flow, merchandising and back-of-house requirements.

What we mean by retail and café joinery

We use “retail and café joinery” to describe the fixed elements that shape how these spaces work – the counters, back bars, display fixtures and storage that support both customer experience and daily operations.

·        front counters for ordering, payment and pick-up

·        back counters and barista stations housing equipment and storage

·        refrigerated and ambient display cases for food, drink and retail items

·        wall-mounted shelving, bays and niches for retail and grab-and-go

·        freestanding gondolas, plinths and tables for flexible merchandising

·        under-counter and back-of-house storage for stock, packaging and small equipment

These elements often sit between Hospitality Bars & Back Counters, Bespoke Kitchens & Pantries and Fitted Storage & Alcove Units, with digital content and menu systems supported by Media Walls & TV Joinery.

Types of retail and café spaces we work on

The same building might house a lobby coffee counter, a destination café, a small shop and a grab-and-go kiosk. We adapt the joinery language to suit each of these formats while keeping the overall story coherent.

·        Lobby cafés and kiosks – compact counters within hotel lobbies or reception areas, coordinated with Reception Desks & Lobby Joinery and wider Hospitality Joinery.

·        All-day café counters – larger counters with multiple stations for coffee, pastries, light food and wine, often sitting between Hospitality Bars & Back Counters and Bespoke Kitchens & Pantries.

·        Retail corners and concept stores – hotel or club retail spaces selling books, objects, clothing or amenities, with joinery that echoes Libraries & Bookcase Joinery and Fitted Storage & Alcove Units.

·        Grab-and-go and take-away counters – high-throughput counters serving commuters and guests, with clear flows, durable finishes and strong links to Tea Points & Breakout Kitchenettes and back-of-house Bespoke Kitchens & Pantries.

·        Members’ club cafés and pantries – informal counters within Amenity & Members’ Club Joinery schemes, often with a more domestic language that sits comfortably alongside libraries, work lounges and bar areas.

·        Outdoor kiosks and terraces – café and retail counters on terraces and pool decks, coordinated with Outdoor & Terrace Joinery and Spa & Wellness Joinery.

Key joinery elements in retail and café counters

We tend to think about retail and café joinery as a set of interlocking components – front-of-house, back-of-house and the vertical surfaces that frame product and people.

·        Front counters – the primary customer interface, with appropriate heights, accessible sections, overhangs, kick protection and integrated POS.

·        Back counters and barista stations – runs that house coffee machines, grinders, fridges, glasswashers and sinks, often sharing DNA with Hospitality Bars & Back Counters and Bespoke Kitchens & Pantries.

·        Display cases and vitrines – ambient and refrigerated displays for pastries, cakes, bottled drinks or curated objects, with lighting and glass details tuned to product type.

·        Wall bays and shelving – fixed and adjustable shelving, rails and niches, often taking cues from Libraries & Bookcase Joinery and Wall Panelling & Architectural Joinery.

·        Freestanding gondolas and plinths – mid-floor fixtures that can be moved or reconfigured, sitting somewhere between joinery and furniture but often designed as part of the same family.

·        Under-counter and back-of-house storage – cupboards, drawers and open bays for stock, packaging and equipment, with an organisational logic similar to Fitted Storage & Alcove Units.

·        Menu, signage and digital integration – integrated menu rails, chalkboards, lightboxes and digital screens, coordinated with Media Walls & TV Joinery.

Flow, customer journey and operations

Retail and café counters succeed or fail on how they handle peaks. We plan the joinery around the customer journey and operational flows, so that people intuitively know where to queue, order, pay and pick up.

·        separating order, pay and pick-up zones where volumes are high

·        planning clear, legible queuing routes that don’t block entrances or circulation

·        siting impulse retail and display where customers naturally pause, without constricting movement

·        balancing back-of-house access, stock replenishment and waste routes with front-of-house calm

These decisions are often made alongside Reception Desks & Lobby Joinery, Amenity & Members’ Club Joinery and wider Hospitality Joinery, particularly where a café or retail counter sits in a shared lobby or club room.

Retail and café joinery in hospitality projects

In hotels and members’ clubs, retail and café counters often have to work from early morning coffee through to evening drinks, sometimes with changing offers across the day.

·        Hotel lobby cafés – counters and back bars that share a language with Reception Desks & Lobby Joinery and Hospitality Bars & Back Counters, while being robust enough for high daily use.

·        Resort cafés and pool bars – counters that spill onto terraces and poolsides, developed alongside Outdoor & Terrace Joinery and Spa & Wellness Joinery.

·        Members’ club coffee bars – smaller, more domestic-feeling counters within Amenity & Members’ Club Joinery, often designed to feel like part of the living room rather than a separate café.

·        In-house retail and club shops – spaces that offer books, objects and apparel, with display systems echoing Libraries & Bookcase Joinery and Fitted Storage & Alcove Units.

Retail and café joinery in mixed-use and workplace settings

In mixed-use and workplace projects, retail and café counters often sit alongside lobbies, co-working lounges and breakout spaces. Joinery needs to support quick service at peak times and feel relaxed in the quieter moments.

·        Ground-floor retail and café units – counters and display joinery that work with the building’s base build and Wall Panelling & Architectural Joinery, tying into wider Hospitality Joinery where offers blend.

·        Workplace cafés and grab-and-go – counters aligned with Tea Points & Breakout Kitchenettes and co-working lounges, supporting everything from quick coffee breaks to informal meetings.

·        Residential amenity cafés – small café counters within Amenity & Members’ Club Joinery for residential schemes, tied back to Residential Joinery palettes.

Materials, lighting and brand expression

Retail and café joinery is one of the clearest expressions of a brand or operator within a space. We balance this expressive layer with practical considerations around durability, cleaning and maintenance.

We build palettes from our Materials library – timbers, stones, composites, metals, tiles, glass and solid surfaces – and align these with stylistic cues on Joinery Styles.

·        choosing durable, cleanable materials for worktops, fronts and kick areas

·        detailing trims, inlays and junctions so that brand colours and metals feel intentional rather than applied

·        integrating lighting within counter fronts, shelving and vitrines to highlight product and help with task visibility

·        balancing expressive feature counters with quieter back-of-house storage that can take wear and tear

Integration with services, equipment and compliance

Retail and café joinery has to work in concert with refrigeration, coffee equipment, dishwashing, fire and hygiene requirements. We design service zones and carcasses with this technical reality built-in from the start.

·        coordinating power, water, waste and ventilation routes for coffee machines, grinders, dishwashers and refrigeration

·        allowing for access to isolation valves, service connections and maintenance zones within joinery

·        planning ventilation, heat rejection and airflow around under-counter fridges and equipment

·        aligning counter heights, knee spaces and queuing layouts with accessibility and DDA guidance

These integrations are developed as part of our broader Bespoke Joinery technical packages and coordinated with brand, MEP and catering consultants, particularly where counters sit alongside Hospitality Bars & Back Counters and Bespoke Kitchens & Pantries.

Our process for retail and café counters / display joinery

Our approach to retail and café joinery follows the same clear stages as our wider

Bespoke Joinery work, with particular emphasis on customer journey, brand expression and operational efficiency.

1. Brief, offer and brand We start by understanding the offer (coffee, food, retail), expected volumes, brand positioning and operational model – including staffing patterns and hours of operation.

2. Plans, adjacencies and equipment We review plans, sections and equipment schedules – or visit site – to understand adjacencies, back-of-house links and main service routes.

3. Layout and flow options We develop counter and display layouts that test queuing, order/pay/pick-up logic, merchandising and back-of-house access.

4. Detailed design & coordination We produce detailed drawings showing carcasses, fronts, worktops, equipment zones, services, lighting and junctions with floors, walls and ceilings.

5. Materials, lighting and samples We prepare focused samples of finishes, metals, lighting and graphics interfaces, aligning them with adjacent scopes on Types of Joinery and ensuring consistency with Hospitality Bars & Back Counters, Bespoke Kitchens & Pantries, Reception Desks & Lobby Joinery, Amenity & Members’ Club Joinery and wider Hospitality Joinery packages.

6. Production & installation Retail and café counters and display joinery are manufactured through our network of workshops and specialist fabricators, and installed in coordination with main contractors, catering and MEP teams, with careful setting out and on-site adjustments to suit real conditions.

Connecting retail and café joinery into the wider scheme

Retail and café counters are often the most animated points in a scheme. Handled well, they knit together lobbies, lounges, terraces and back-of-house into one clear story.

We make sure decisions taken here align with adjacent scopes such as Hospitality Bars & Back Counters, Home Bars & Back Bars, Bespoke Kitchens & Pantries, Reception Desks & Lobby Joinery, Amenity & Members’ Club Joinery, Tea Points & Breakout Kitchenettes, Fitted Storage & Alcove Units, Media Walls & TV Joinery, Wall Panelling & Architectural Joinery, Internal Doors & Screens, Outdoor & Terrace Joinery, Hospitality Joinery and Residential Joinery. All of this is structured through Types of Joinery and the stylistic language captured on Joinery Styles.

Next steps

If you are developing retail or café counters and display joinery as part of a project, share your plans, equipment schedules, brand guidelines and interior concepts with us.

We can respond with layout options, counter and display families and indicative scopes, showing how this layer could connect with Hospitality Bars & Back Counters, Home Bars & Back Bars, Bespoke Kitchens & Pantries, Reception Desks & Lobby Joinery, Amenity & Members’ Club Joinery, Tea Points & Breakout Kitchenettes, Fitted Storage & Alcove Units, Media Walls & TV Joinery, Wall Panelling & Architectural Joinery, Internal Doors & Screens, Outdoor & Terrace Joinery, Hospitality Joinery and Residential Joinery. From there we move into detailed design, sampling and delivery in line with your programme.