Abstract: An open shelf bar arrangement for an hotel or like establishment comprises a plurality of open shelf bars (3), each having shelf units (23) for receiving articles (45) and control arrangements for determining the presence or absence of articles and transmitting data thereabout. A central processor (5) is provided for receiving data from the bar control arrangement of each bar (3) and for controlling the bars, the central processor (5) providing data to reporting means (11) for providing reports on the operation of the bars (3) and to a central billing arrangement (9) for adding the cost of items taken from the bars to appropriate customers billing. The invention also includes the bar control arrangement and the bar shelf units (23).