Floor Standing Menu & Catalogue Stands

Four ranges, and how to tell them apart

Everything on this page stands on the floor. What separates the four ranges is how far away the person reading it is standing, and that single question gets you to the right one faster than any spec sheet.

Reading it at arm’s length → menu stands and lecterns

A menu, a wine list, a price list, a room directory, a sign-in sheet. The reader walks right up and looks down at it, so the top is angled towards them and sits at about the height you would hold a book. An upright poster would have them craning. This is the range for restaurant entrances, hotel lobbies, reception desks and wayfinding.

Reading it from across the room → poster stands and floor sign holders

A promotion, an opening-hours notice, a price point, a safety message. Nobody is going to walk over to read it, so it stands upright, at eye level, and the print is large. These live in aisles, foyers, entrances and anywhere you want a message to carry across a space.

Reading it from the footpath → A-frames and pavement signs

The sign is outside, the reader is walking past, and the wind is the enemy. These fold flat, sit low and wide, or take a base you fill on the day. They go out in the morning and come in at night. A stand not built for outdoor use will not stay upright in the first strong wind.

Standing beside the product → POS and promotion displays

A price, an offer, a “new in” flash sitting right next to the thing it refers to. Smaller, lighter and designed to be moved whenever the floor plan changes, rather than to hold a position for a year.

Angled or upright?

This catches people out, so it is worth saying plainly. An angled top — a lectern — is for reading. It puts the page at the angle a book would be at, which is comfortable at close range and almost useless from more than a couple of paces, because you are looking at the page edge-on.

An upright face is for seeing. It reads cleanly from across a room, and it is uncomfortable to read closely because you have to stand back from it.

If people will stop and read — a menu, a list, a form — go angled. If people will glance while walking — a promotion, a direction, a warning — go upright. Some stands tilt so you can have it either way; the product page says which.

What is actually going in it?

Worth checking before you buy, because it decides the fitting rather than the stand.

• Paper print. A standard A-size sheet from a print shop or an office printer. Fits almost everything here.
• Printed board. Corflute or cardboard — rigid, thicker than paper, used for outdoor and promotional signs. Needs a clamp or a channel made for board thickness, not a paper frame.
• A menu in a cover. Thicker again, and often a non-standard size. Measure it before you buy a stand with a fixed frame.
• Something you change constantly. Then the loading mechanism matters more than anything else — look for a frame that opens rather than a channel you have to slide the print into.

Floor standing display stand FAQ

What is the difference between a lectern and a poster stand?

The angle, and therefore the reading distance. A lectern angles the page towards someone standing at it. A poster stand holds the print upright so it carries across a room. Same job — show a printed page — opposite ends of the room.

Which height should it be?

For anything read up close, around the height you would rest a book: comfortable to look down at without stooping. For anything read at distance, the print wants to be near standing eye level, so the top of the stand ends up higher. Several stands here adjust, which is the safe answer if the spot might change.

Can I use an indoor stand outside?

Not as a routine. Indoor bases are weighted for people brushing past, not for wind, and the finish and print are not made for weather. If it is going outside every day, buy something built for outside.

Do they come assembled?

Most arrive flat and go together in a few minutes with what is in the box. Where more than that is involved, it is noted on the product page.

Can I move it once it is up?

Indoor stands are made to be repositioned by one person — that is the point of a floor stand over something screwed to a wall. Outdoor stands with a filled base are not; empty them first, or pick one with wheels.

What if I want it on the wall or the counter instead?

Then you do not want a floor stand at all. For walls, the snap frames and poster displays and the wall mounted brochure holders. For brochures and magazines in volume, the brochure floor stands and magazine racks.

Can you supply the printing as well?

We supply the stands, not the printing. Any print shop can produce what goes in them — tell them the size the product page lists and ask them to keep text clear of the edges.

How is delivery charged?

Each product page shows how that item is sent; the larger stands travel by courier rather than post. A handful of regional and remote postcodes fall outside what the checkout can price — when that happens, send us the address and you will get a courier quote back before anything is paid, with no obligation to proceed.

Do you do bulk or trade pricing?

Price breaks show on the product pages that have them. For a multi-site rollout or a mix across the ranges, ask us for a quote — most of what we ship is sites fitting out several rooms at once rather than a single stand.