While it’s a blessing that there are numerous types of shelves, including varied materials, accessories, components, and mounting types to consider, this can also be a challenge for shoppers. Which shelves do you need for different settings? Below, we’ll outline just a few types of shelving available at Metro as a primer for choosing the ideal shelving for your environment and application.
Whether you own a restaurant or retail store or manage a laboratory or hospital wing, Metro wire shelving allows for unlimited storage possibilities and can fit any need. When the best industries in the world need wire shelving, Metro is the brand they choose. Open wire shelving is the most common type of metal shelving and provides an open aesthetic, so you can see everything you need at a glance. Because of the sparse elements it requires for strength and durability, you’re always saving space with wire shelving. It’s also customizable. Change the shelf heights at your will, or add more shelves where you need them. Our wire shelves are extremely strong and can hold a large number of items without budging. Use wire shelving to store papers and goods in your commercial setting or large and heavy packages, industrial equipment, and more.
Solid shelving is another variation of metal shelving. Solid shelving is necessary in application settings where spills might occur. Instead of falling through the cracks of wire shelving, the spill is easily contained within the shelf’s solid surface. This can control possible contamination from shelf to shelf and from shelf to the floor on bottom shelves. Solid shelving may also be useful in settings where small items need to be stored and where these items would otherwise fall through the cracks of wire shelving. Metro solid shelving is available in several different materials, including 18-gauge stainless steel or galvanized materials. Various styles are available, including louvered/embossed shelves, which can help promote air circulation. See our three main types of solid shelving materials below:
• Regular Stainless Steel Solid Shelving: Our standard stainless steel solid shelves are ideal for most scenarios and applications. Featuring epoxy-coated cast corners, these shelves offer a solid work surface or strong, corrosion resistant shelf for storage. Choose from a flat, solid style or a louvered/embossed style.
• Galvanized Shelving: For work surface or shelving applications ideally necessitating minimal resistance to corrosion, our galvanized shelves feature uncoated cast corners. Choose from a simple, flat solid style or a louvered/embossed style.
• Premium Autoclave/Cart Washable Stainless Steel Solid Shelving: These shelves are available in a flat solid style and are constructed entirely of stainless steel and can withstand all types of extreme applications, including those involving corrosive materials and elements and extremely high temperatures, such as a cart wash.
Plastic shelving from Metro is designed using advanced polymers to be just as strong and durable as metal and wire shelving. Plastic shelving also has a number of advantages over wire shelving. Plastic shelving will not rust or corrode. This makes plastic shelving the best shelving option for damp or wet environments such as a walk-in cooler or walk-in freezer in a commercial restaurant kitchen. All plastic shelves from Metro feature removable shelf mats, available in solid and vented grid versions, for fast, easy clean-up. These plastic shelving mats also have a smooth surface, making them ideal for storage of blue wrapped sterile packages for hospitals and other medical facilities. Plastic shelving can be antimicrobial when constructed. Antimicrobial shelving undergoes a manufacturing process that infuses the shelving with an antimicrobial agent. In turn, the antimicrobials will inhibit the growth of mildew, mold, bacteria, and fungus that can cause stains and odors. In addition to standard plastic shelving, various accessories such as ledges, dividers, baskets, dish racks, and more are available to allow you to create your own custom plastic shelving solution to fit your specific needs.
From louvered wall panel to direct wall mounts and standard wall mount storage systems, Metro offers several types of wall shelving for your convenience. Above countertops and other workstations, wall-mounted shelving is the best shelving option for optimizing often underutilized wall space.
All of our wall shelving is customizable as well. We understand that no two spaces or workstations are alike, so we offer shelving systems that can be uniquely created to optimize your particular space. Choose from systems that allow you to mount supply bins and other accessories, or simply go with a shelving system that offers equally-spaced shelves, which can be easily adjusted to different heights as needed. We offer numerous sizes, styles, and finishes to meet your needs. All wall shelving is extremely durable and, when installed correctly and under the appropriate conditions, will not fall or falter.
The majority of Metro shelving options are freestanding, which means it is not mounted to a wall or any other surface. Freestanding shelving units are generally used against walls, and can also be stationed back-to-back in central areas so that all sides of the shelves can be easily accessed — much like an island in a kitchen.
Freestanding shelves come in a number of materials and a number of sizes and shapes. There are so many options that it’s always easy to find something to meet your particular needs, and we recommend measuring your space for optimal space-saving and efficiency when implementing your freestanding shelving.
Keep in mind that freestanding shelving can be mobile or stationary. Stationary units can be used in any setting, but in settings, such as kitchens and restaurants, mobile shelving is optimal as it allows you to quickly change what is accessible. For example, if you have different prep materials for breakfast service than you do for dinner service, you can create a mobile shelf for each meal and move them back to front as you need them throughout the day and evening. Wheels lock into place securely so that you never have to worry about mobile shelves moving once they’re in place. Mobile shelving also allows you to move your shelving when cleaning the floor surfaces.
Adjustable shelving is designed to allow the user easily adjust the heights of the individual shelves without the use of tools. This easy shelf adjustment allows you to quickly adapt your shelving system as your storage needs evolve over time. Dunnage shelving is the best shelving option for heavy items that need to be kept off the floor.
Dunnage racks are available in a variety of materials including metal, stainless steel and heavy-duty plastic known as polymer. With weight capacities up to 3000 lbs., dunnage racks are designed to carry your heaviest loads. Security shelving units are ideal when you need to store and secure high-value items, such as expensive wines, computers, electronic components, and more. Security shelving units are available in both stationary and mobile version and come in a variety of materials and finishes to allow you to customize the solution that fits your application.
High-density shelving utilizes a guide track and mobile shelving units to boost available storage space by up to 50% without any added construction costs. High-density shelving is available in a variety of finishes and is suitable for both dry and wet environments, making it the best shelving option for areas where you need to maximize your storage space.