In the mid 2020’s world bar design is to be seen in a much different light than in the 1990s or 2000s. Our social and economic world is a different one where the focus of a bar service has changed to address current marketplace. The bar design today needs to be planned towards the direction where the modern world is heading to in this decade.
What does is mean about the changed trends in bar business?
The modern marketplace has divided into three groups (A) The new rich but socially isolated behavior in small groups (B) The socially better integrated educated living in the “sustainable” space (C) The financially successful super rich with an ultra-plush life living an unlimited life.
The expectations of all the three groups are exclusive. In the 2000s people socializing were similar in taste, it was a supply driven market influenced for the 90s media, for namely two groups:
- Youth (18 to 25), where bars were driven by speed and cost effectiveness, to serve a high energy experience.
- Older Group (50 plus), where bars were driven by linear inventory and high on decor, to serve an unwinding experience.
- The middle age group either selected to visit youth or senior bar spaces, or they spent time with friends in private spaces.
Bar Designing for Modern Marketplace in 2026
Today the most valuable group are the 90’s kids who are in 40s to 50s, who have a youthful drive, who have enjoyed the successes in growth of modern India. While the younger ones have caused the bar market gone crashing, moving away from high energy social gathering as well as away from alcohol. And the ones driving social gatherings in youth have moved to cafe culture between smaller groups. While the older generation had bars as space for dating and meeting, the modern channels of meeting has moved to phone apps. This means dating in restaurants and bars are related to meeting spaces needing a conducive ambience rather than high engagement with music, lighting and alcohol to lower inhibitions.
How does this affect modern bar designing?
Focus on affluent over forty.
With the biggest market of drinking now affluent, over forty, we plan bars based on high quality experience of products and design. This crowd has experienced the old school bar spaces therefore they won’t be interested in the same. Considerations in our bar design for this segment:
- Focus on a residential style decor avoiding a commercial feel. This includes finishes for cabinets in custom woodgrain finishes or matte black to create a feel or calm.
- Focus on advanced empowerment to mixologist to create high-innovation cocktails by creating cocktail stations with feature empowerment.
- Focus on features supporting premium drinks visual and taste service, from crystal glassware, consistent right temperatures, and original tasting drinks that are undiluted, as well as fresh in taste over synthetic feel.
- Focus on hygiene from bartender handwash to glass-washing, from ease of bar surface cleaning and regular maintenance to elimination of cross contamination.
- Offering more options of products by high capacity per smaller footprint.
- Focus on wines by the glass served fresh, at the correct temperature in clean glass.
- Focus on quality ice management for serving superior chilled drinks especially single malts, or chilled martinis.
- Focus on an elegant showmanship of drink making, mixing, and serving on the counter, using in counter mixology drink rails.
- Focus on different styles of installations of beverage service meeting modern restaurant design, using our Decor line and the standard front and backbars.
- Focus on a bar design made for high density performance for low density and high value guests.
Principles of Ergonomics of Operations
Principle of Cocktail Lifecycle is made to eliminate wasted steps of the bartender to prepare and serve a drink, as well as to accept soiled glass to clean and stack for service.
When we create ease of actions, it translates to saving the bartender from losing energy, getting frustrated and stressed, therefore enjoying longer stress-free hours focusing on quality innovations for the business.
The bar design features majority of the ingredients within an arm’s length to pick and prepare on the service counter by category, and it totally avoids the need to walk over to a distance to pick one of the ingredients to complete a cocktail life cycle.
Each bar designed follows Glastender Cocktail Lifecycle pattern for highest degrees of efficiencies in the services.
