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Country clubs and private clubs
A Club Is Eight Restaurants. We Stock All Eight.
You are running several restaurants at once. A dining room, a grill room, a halfway house, a beverage cart, a pool snack bar, banquets, locker rooms and a maintenance building, all on one budget and all in front of the membership. Each one buys differently.
Dean Supply has stocked Northeast Ohio kitchens since 1950. Smallwares, china and glassware, disposables, janitorial, pantry and bar consumables, and equipment, held here in Cleveland and moved on our own trucks five days a week. This page is laid out by venue, because that is how your week actually runs.
What you can expect from us. Call 216-325-0994 and you get a person in Cleveland, not a queue. If it is on our shelf it goes on your next truck. If it is not, you get the lead time up front instead of finding out on Friday. And when you are planning next season, ask early: we would rather help you get ahead of it than fill an emergency order in July.
Golf season is short. We have been here for 76 of them.
The club year
What to order, and when
Ordering at a club is not steady. It builds through April, runs hard from Memorial Day to Labor Day, and then most of it stops. Here is the shape of the year, so the things with lead times get ordered in February instead of the week you need them.
Order anything with a lead time
Printed cups, napkins and boxes take weeks, not days. Equipment ordered now lands before the season, not during it. This is also when Ohio food service licenses renew, by March 1, or by your first day of operation if an outlet is seasonal.
Open the clubhouse
The big one. China and glass topped back up after last season's breakage, smallwares replaced instead of limped along, and the first full janitorial order for the clubhouse and locker rooms. Set your route day now, before the calendar fills.
Open the pool and the halfway house
Order the season, not the month. These two outlets run ten to twelve weeks and then stop, and reordering mid-July costs you a weekend. Remember the pool deck is a no-glass room, so the tumbler decision gets made now.
Restock, do not rethink
In season, nobody has time to source. One standing order across the kitchen, the pool and the locker rooms clears the minimum in a single stop and gives your controller one invoice instead of three. Cutoff is 3 PM the day before your route day.
Outings, then the shoulder
Outing season is short and it is the best chance all year to put your logo in a member's hand, which means the print order was placed in the spring. As play thins out, start the equipment conversation for the winter shutdown.
The quiet stretch is when you fix things
Kitchen projects only happen now, because it is the only time the kitchen is quiet. Retire the china that has been chipped since 2022. Price next season's printed packaging while there is no pressure on the date.
What we stock
Seven categories that cover a club
We hold more than 10,000 items on the shelf and can order well beyond that. If we do not have something in the building we will tell you that, and tell you how long it takes. If you want to see it first, the showroom is 20,000 square feet and you can walk in without an appointment.
Smallwares and kitchen tools
Sheet pans, hotel pans, food storage, china caps, tongs, thermometers, cutting boards, knives, mixing bowls, squeeze bottles, pan racks. The parts that wear out or walk off. Buying these by the case beats replacing them one at a time all season.
Inspection checklist suppliesChina, glassware and flatware
Members compare your dining room to the restaurants they eat at the rest of the week. We stock restaurant and hotel weight china, stemware, barware and flatware, in patterns you can add to for years instead of replacing all at once. Bring in a broken plate and we will try to match it, or tell you straight that we cannot.
Disposables, takeaway and printed packaging
Cups, lids, clamshells, boat trays, deli containers, portion cups, foil, film, napkins and hinged boxes. This is the biggest category for most clubs, because the halfway house, the cart, the pool and every outing run on it.
We also print. Your club logo on cups, napkins, coasters, bags, boxes and wraps. There are order minimums and lead times run in weeks, so plan a spring order over the winter.
Ask about custom printingJanitorial, restroom and laundry
Clubhouse restrooms, locker rooms, the pool house, the pro shop and the maintenance building. Roll towel, folded towel, tissue, soap, dispensers, can liners, floor pads, mops, chemicals and gloves. A locker room needs a better grade of paper than the cart barn does. We carry both grades.
Can liner size guideBanquet and buffet gear
Chafers and fuel, water pans, risers, mirrored trays, coffee urns and airpots, banquet carts, tray stands, bus tubs and glass racks. We sell this gear. We do not rent it. If you need a hundred chafers for one Saturday, a rental house is the better call.
Equipment, with help attached
Ranges, fryers, refrigeration, ice machines, dish machines, ventilation. We do restaurant design, Rent-Try-Buy, financing and extended warranties. Most clubs replace equipment between November and March, because that is the only stretch when the kitchen is quiet. Lead times are long, so a February install is a September conversation.
Shelf-stable food and mixes
Canned and jarred goods, condiments, portion packets, drink mixes, bar syrups and sours, coffee and tea. Not the perishable side, so this does not replace your food distributor. It does mean the halfway house restocks ketchup and lemonade mix on the same truck as its cups, on one invoice.
By venue
A club is eight operations under one roof
The dining room, the halfway house and the pool snack bar have almost nothing in common except a logo and a chef who orders for all three. Here is what each one actually needs, and when.
Main dining room
This is where members decide whether the club is worth the dues. Plates, glasses and flatware get compared to restaurants they could have gone to instead. Breakage is the cost nobody budgets for, and most clubs carry too little china and then run short on the worst night of the year.
- Buy patterns you can reorder, not closeouts you can only replace
- A rough rule we use: cover your busiest seating twice, then add 15% for breakage
- Ask for the same look in a heavier weight for the rooms that take more abuse
- Bring in a broken plate and we will try to match it
Grill room and bar
Faster turns, harder use, more glass on the floor. Bar glassware is the highest breakage item at most clubs, and the grill room usually wants a heavier plate than the dining room.
- Stock two or three glass shapes deep instead of eight shapes thin
- Rolled-edge china survives bussing and the dish machine better
- Glass racks and rack dollies cut breakage more than reminding staff does
- Low and no-alcohol drinks keep growing, which puts more weight on garnish, mixers and the glass they go in
Halfway house and beverage cart
A tiny footprint with no room for error, running a menu that has moved well past the hot dog. Packaging has to hold heat, survive a cart on a bumpy path, and fit a cup holder.
- Cup holder fit is a real spec. Measure the cart before you buy the cup
- Vented containers keep fried food from steaming itself soft
- Carry a season of stock. Running out on a Saturday in July is not a small problem
- Condiments, portion packets and drink mixes come off the same truck as the packaging, so the cart restocks on one order
- Ohio treats two serving areas with separate kitchens as two food service operations, licensed separately, even in one building. Your health district makes that call, so ask before the season
Pool snack bar and pool deck
Ten to twelve weeks of very heavy volume, then nothing at all. Most clubs ban glass on the deck, so everything served outside has to be plastic, paper or a reusable tumbler.
- No glass on the deck means PET or polypropylene cups, not stemware
- Order the season in May. Reordering in July costs you a weekend
- The pool house restrooms need their own paper and liner par, separate from the clubhouse
- Kids' cups, lids and straws move faster than anything else back there
- A snack bar with its own kitchen may need its own food license. Check with your district
Banquets and weddings
Usually the profit center, and it runs on a completely different list from daily dining. A wedding for 180 needs gear the dining room never touches, and the banquet manager is often ordering it three weeks out at 11 at night.
- Chafers, fuel, water pans, risers and skirting
- Banquet china in a pattern you can still buy in four years
- Cake boxes, to-go containers and bags for the end of the night
- Coffee urns and airpots sized for the room, not for the kitchen
- We sell this gear. We do not rent it
Locker rooms, spa and fitness
Members notice the locker room almost as much as they notice the food, and it is the one room where a cheap paper towel gets talked about at a board meeting. This is hospitality-grade paper and amenities, not the grade you put in the maintenance building.
- Folded towel and tissue a step above back of house
- Soap, sanitizer and dispensers that suit the room
- Hampers, laundry carts and towel bins
- Restroom chemicals that are safe on tile, stone and fixtures
Outings, tournaments and member events
An outing is a one-day restaurant you build on a tee box. It needs its own supply list, it gets planned about three weeks out, and it is the best place to put your logo in a member's hand.
- Box lunches, wraps, coolers, ice chests and portable stations
- Serving gear light enough to carry to a hole
- Put the club logo on the box, the cup and the napkin. Printing takes weeks, so order early
- If you serve at a site away from the club, ask your health district whether a temporary license applies
Grounds, maintenance and the cart barn
Not a kitchen, but it still buys. The crew building goes through more hand cleaner and shop towel than the clubhouse does, and on-course restrooms need stocking all season.
- Heavy-duty hand cleaner and shop towel
- Contractor-grade liners and drum liners
- Restroom supplies for the crew building and on-course restrooms
- We do not sell turf chemicals, fertilizer, seed or anything agronomy. That comes from your golf distributor
Delivery and terms
How it actually works
The numbers are at the top of the page. This is what sits behind them, so nothing about working with us is a surprise on a Friday.
Questions clubs ask
Answers with numbers in them
No. Anyone can walk into the showroom and buy with a card, with no account and no vendor license. You need an account for truck delivery, for invoicing and for terms. The form takes a few minutes.
The shelf-stable side, yes: canned and jarred goods, condiments, portion packets, drink mixes, bar syrups, coffee and tea. We do not carry fresh, frozen, produce, protein or dairy, so this is not a replacement for your food distributor. What it means in practice is that the halfway house can get its ketchup and its cups on the same truck, on one invoice.
Send us the list and find out. Most club contracts are strong on food and thinner on smallwares, china, glassware and janitorial. We will price your list line by line and show you where we come out ahead. Where we do not, we will tell you that too, so you can stop wondering.
$150 in merchandise plus a $2.99 fuel surcharge. Cutoff is 3:00 PM the day before your route day.
If it is in stock and you are on a route, it comes on your next route day, as long as the order is in by 3:00 PM the day before. If you need it the same day, pick it up: Monday to Friday 9 to 5, Saturday 10 to 4.
10 to 4. Saturday is the busiest day at most clubs and it is the day nearly every supply house is closed. That is the reason we open it.
Yes. Cups, napkins, coasters, bags, boxes and wraps. There are minimum order quantities and lead times run in weeks, not days. Ask early. A spring order should be placed over the winter.
Yes. Several buyers, one billing contact. Give us the names and email addresses at set-up.
Ask us at set-up. If your controller or board wants dining, banquet, pool and locker room spend kept separate, tell us before the first order rather than after the first statement.
That is your health district's call, not ours. Ohio's food code treats two serving areas supplied by separate kitchens as two food service operations that are licensed separately, even inside the same building. Food service licenses renew by March 1, or by the first day of operation for a seasonal one. Ask your district before you open for the season.
No, we sell it. For a one-time event that needs a hundred chafers, use a rental house. If you are renting the same gear every June, buying it usually costs less than three seasons of rental.
No. We do janitorial and restroom supplies for the pool house, the clubhouse and the maintenance building. Pool water chemistry and anything agronomic comes from a different kind of distributor.
Most are not. A member-owned social club still pays Ohio sales tax on supplies. If your club holds an exemption, send us the Ohio exemption certificate and we will put it on the account.
Start in the fall. Most clubs do kitchen work between November and March because it is the only quiet stretch. Equipment lead times are long, so a February install is a September conversation. We do design, Rent-Try-Buy, financing and extended warranties.
Next step
Send us your list
Email what you buy now, in whatever form it exists. A spreadsheet, a photo of a shelf, last month's invoice from somebody else. We will price it and tell you where we are competitive and where we are not.
If you would rather just start ordering, open an account. It takes a few minutes and someone will call you with your route day.
