Making Bollards Pretty: How to Take the Unattractiveness Out of These Functional Safety Devices
Posted on: 31 October 2018
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Walking towards the doors of a big box store, you may notice the stainless steel bollards lining the sidewalk in front of the doors. Bollards have been increasing in demand in the last several years, ever since kamikaze drivers for radical causes have tried to drive trucks and cars through storefronts and store doors. There is just one thing about these bollards that most store owners do not like; they are not attractive. Functional? Yes. Safety-preserving? Yes. Attractive? Not so much. However, there are ways of making steel bollards more attractive, and you may notice some of these approaches as time goes on.
Bollard Covers
Yes, this is a real product now. A company must have agreed with people on the unattractiveness of steel bollards because stores can now dress up their bollards with covers. The most recent ones to crop up are candy-cane holiday covers to make the bollards look like peppermint sticks. Stores can also buy ones that look like blades of grass; daisy chains winding around; and red, white, and blue stripes for Independence Day. The bollard covers are pulled over the tops of the bollards down to the bases and then tied off. Some are even padded to protect against cart damage.
Glow Paint
Glow paint was originally used to make the bollards stand out in the dark at night. Now it is being applied in creative ways to make the bollards fun and interesting to view. The glow paint can be painted over again and again, which allows store owners to create holiday designs and themes or announce sales after dark without the use of digital marquee signs.
Reflective Colors for Every Season or to Match Store Theme Colors and Decor
Reflective paint reserved for parking bumps can also be used on bollards. In fact, many stores already do this when they do not use any other bollard covering or decoration. The good news is that store owners can pick from five different reflective paint colors, not just yellow and white (like you see on the roads at night). Orange, green, and blue are also available. There is talk that other reflective colors may be created for the purpose of matching painted bollards to a store's decor, but you will have to look into that on your own. At least for now, store owners have plenty of options to make their steel door protectors more attractive.