by Aluvision and Metro Exhibits
True event partners provide smart strategies for design and fabrication. They ensure maximum impact on the event floor without exceeding their client’s budget.
As a leading supplier of sustainable, modular systems for exhibits and events, our partners take advantage of Aluvision’s reusable solutions to meet their client’s objectives and ensure their success across show floor and bottom line.Recently, Aluvision partner Metro Exhibits demonstrated the power of utilizing our versatile systems for one of their clients with two major shows in the first half of 2025.
Serving Up Strategy
When CFS Brands approached Metro Exhibits with their program needs, they welcomed the opportunity to showcase their skills, creativity, and exhibit design savvy for this super supplier of kitchen and cooking equipment.
Metro Exhibits knew the undertaking for the 11,900 sq. ft. booth that would first appear at NAFEM in February and then next at NRA in May would require a strategic approach.
The ask from CFS Brands was simple: create an experience where attendees could see all product lines, including newly launched brands and special product demonstrations, and where they could meet with sales reps in a semi-private setting. The execution of such a task was anything but.
CFS Brands, which provides essential supplies and equipment for the most trusted brands in food service, sanitary maintenance, healthcare, and hospitality, serves a variety of industries. Metro Exhibits was challenged to design a space comprised of many different brands that would appeal to a wide-ranging audience while maintaining an overarching look-and-feel.
On the logistical side, they had to ensure CFS Brands stood out from their competitors with a cost-effective design solution that allowed for easy reconfiguration to fit both show footprints as well as manageable costs for shipping, drayage, and labor.
Aluvision: Clear Cut Advantages
Aluvision’s award-winning Omni pro series was selected by Metro Exhibits for the foundation of the 70×170 booth.
These ultra-lightweight frames accommodate SEG and panels on both sides, and easily and seamlessly connect to any size frame system and other materials such as wood. Made of aluminum with precision quality engineering standards, Aluvision’s Omni pro frames are also advantageous for their durability, strength, and stability; something Metro Exhibits relied on to support the shelving, TV monitors, and slat wall elements incorporated throughout.
Metro Exhibits strategically organized CFS Brands’ product lines into a series of restaurant-inspired vignettes to showcase the products in real-world applications. They added archways to designate the intended route of travel from one scenario to the next.
The Aluvision Omni pro series was used for all the divider walls, product display shelves, and scene backdrops because of the flexibility it affords in supporting any type of graphic treatment. It was also used to create the archways, which needed to be reconfigured for orientation between the two shows. With an eye for detail, Metro Exhibits incorporated Aluvision’s Omni LED line in certain areas for added aesthetic and pronunciation of certain product lines and atmospheres.
The intended path began with an outdoor dining and kitchen setup to an indoor dining scene with bar and buffet, to an industrial kitchen and then to a janitorial scenario.
With meeting space centrally located and the various vignettes placed around the edges of the booth, Metro Exhibits met their client’s goal for both intimate conversation and public demonstration areas.
Recipe for Success
Working with Aluvision systems allowed Metro Exhibits to freely create for their client, knowing they had a versatile building solution that could provide structural support as well as design flexibility.
The designers created custom elements, such as functional (swinging) industrial kitchen doors and an industrial grill hood, that were incorporated into the Aluvision frame structure in the kitchen vignette to add authenticity to the atmosphere. Where these and other elements intertwined with the modular system, such as the bar’s inset mirror shelf and the wooden parsons tables and pergola of the interior dining vignette, Metro Exhibits demonstrated Aluvision’s seamless connection capacity. What’s more, Metro Exhibits relied on Aluvision’s durable, strong frame system to support the weight of the suspended pergola.
Thanks to Aluvision’s toolless assembly and plug and play model, Metro Exhibits capitalized on a streamlined connection system that simplified installation and dismantling while enhancing setup control and structural integrity.
For such a large booth, being cognizant of the ease of I&D and managing the client’s budget is paramount. Utilizing Aluvision’s ultra lightweight frames was a quarter of the weight for shipping and drayage, and less costly overall than a full wooden fabrication. A true partner, Metro Exhibits delivered on cost savings as well as successful outcomes for both shows.
“The response from our clients was overwhelmingly positive. They praised Metro Exhibits for our dedication and how well we helped them show up on the event floor and draw traffic to their booth. They reported it to be a ‘phenomenal’ showing for CFS Brands.”
Learn more about Metro Exhibits: metroexhibits.com
Learn more about Aluvision: aluvision.com
This story originally appeared in the Q3 2025 issue of Exhibit City News, p. 24. For original layout, visit https://issuu.com/exhibitcitynews/docs/exhibit_city_news_-_jul_aug_sept_2025/24.
