Royal Restrooms spruce up events
While most companies are experiencing a drop in business as the economy continues its downward spiral, Royal Restrooms has seen business pick up as event organizers try to make the most of dwindling attendance.
It’s easy to figure out why businesses such as debt consolidation and mortgage loan modification have gotten more customers during this time of economic downturn, but fancy festival bathrooms?
A special kind of luxury
Royal Restrooms President and CEO David E. Sauers, Jr., is pretty sure he knows why his product is becoming more popular.
“Our business is complex and our product is infinitely more luxurious than the crude porta potties of the past,” he said.
Event organizers know that time is money, meaning the more time attendees spend at and event, the more money they will spend. Using Royal Restrooms instead of cramped plastic porta potties means people are more likely to stay longer.
Business model
Royal Restrooms has changed the portable bathroom business by building roomy, comfortable bathrooms that just happen to be in trailers. There are six models of Restroom Trailers, ranging from “Unisex Restroom” to “Platinum Restroom.”
Royal Restrooms also has a line of trailers that come equipped with showers, perfect for events that span over multiple days.
From the Royal Restrooms web site:
Whether your event is an intimate outdoor wedding, private party, building remodel, large festival, or a national event, Royal Restrooms® can easily provide a wide variety of portable restroom trailers – including ADA handicap portable restrooms and handicap shower trailers – to accommodate any outdoor restroom facility need.
Against the odds
Although the overall number of events has gone down, profits are going op for Royal Restrooms. Jane Wells from CNBC reports:
“We just did an airshow,” Founder and CEO David Sauers told me by phone from company headquarters in Savannah, Georgia. He says festival bookings for his toilets are up 17 percent from a year ago. Most of the growth is in the Southeast, “but even our Connecticut office is having a bigger year.”
However, corporate events are down 40 percent, and weddings are flat. Still, since festivals use more toilets than other events, overall, business is up. Royal Restrooms is starting to invest in building more of its largest trailers, including one which accommodates 11 stalls.
Is Royal Restrooms’ business linked to swine flu?
Sauers reports that people have actually started to call his company to find out whether his products will be present at an event. In this video on CNBC, Sauers says he thinks fear of swine flu has spurred business because Royal Restrooms allow people to wash their hands and the facilities overall are just more sanitary. CNBC reports:
Sauers says they’ve gotten more calls since the swine flu outbreak, especially for events geared toward children.
The video also reports that government use of Royal Restrooms has gone up. Sauers attributes the increase in government usage to a simple increase in awareness of his business.
Finding inspiration
CNBC asked Sauers how he came up with the idea for Royal Restrooms.
“My little daughter,” Sauers says. Back in 2004, he was potty training his daughter (who was also a thumb sucker). They were at an event which required a trip to the porta potty, at night, in the dark, “And I just couldn’t explain it right to her…I never wanted to relive that again.”
